Stealing Love
by Lillyviolet
Summary: Gray is a famous soccer player of Magnolia West High School. Lucy is a new transfer student and is branded as a loner. What happens when Gray is dared to date her, only to break her heart. My first fanfiction. Rated T for Language.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my first ever fanfic so woohoo! Please be kind to me, I love Fairy Tail and I know you all do to. Hope you enjoy

Title of story: **Stealing Love**

+Summary: Gray is a famous soccer player of Magnolia West High School. Lucy is a new transfer student and is branded as a loner. Gray is dared to date her by the soccer club, but later finds out that there is more than meets the eye. Find out in "Stealing Love". GrayLu

+Pairings: Gray and Lucy

Romance, Hurt, Drama

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 1: The Girl

"Yo Gray, did you hear? There's a new chick in school."

Gray Fullbuster turned to face his friend/ fellow forward player Sting Eucliffe. Gray was the most popular boy in Magnolia West High School, due to his position as striker on the schools soccer team. He had the perfect combination of good looks, with spiky bluish-black hair, a straight nose, piercing navy blue eyes and sharp features, the perfect body, with a height of 5 ft 10 in., a well-toned chest, abs, lean muscular thighs and arms, and to top it off, kept an average grade of A- in all his classes. In short….he was perfect!

"And so?" Gray wasn't really a person who liked to associate himself with just any random person. He was brought up in a respectable home, with a loving mother and a wonderful older brother and sister. He wanted to be able to follow in their footsteps and graduate and win a soccer scholarship to pursue his dream in playing for Magnolia one day in the Golden Star Soccer World Cup. Many girls thought maybe that was the reason why he never seemed to be interested in having a girlfriend.

"Gajeel said he saw her coming out of the old man's office and guess what?! She was wearing glasses and overalls. OVERALLS! Who wears that now! She must be a granny or something"

"Well then thank God I haven't bumped into her yet or I might suddenly go bald from being in contact with her."

"Dude, that was harsh even for you. I'm just saying…"

"But you were the one that said she looked like a granny? Don't tell me the infamous playboy Sting is suddenly gaining feelings for said girl?" he said with a smirk.

"Of course not! Unlike you, I like it when girls declare their everlasting love to me."

"Oh I doubt its love their feeling."

"Hey what's that supposed to mean? I am the perfect gentleman." And with that Sting gave a low bow, looked up and tipped an imaginary hat of his head, with a grin resting on his boyish face.

"pfft perfect gentleman my ass! Fine come on then, let's go see this girl you assumed is a granny, but is not. Right then lead the way Sting-kun"

"Oi do NOT call me that! I do have a reputation to uphold you know."

"Whatever dude, let's go. I don't want to miss class just because you wanted me to see a granny." And with that they made their way down the hall.

.…*^*….

When they had reached the main hallway they were immediately bombarded by at least twenty girls.

"Gray-sama will you go out with me?"

"No Gray-sama me, me!"

"Sting, you're like so hot you're burning "**(Okay I could NOT resist putting in that line XD )**

"Ladies, ladies relax there is enough of me to go around."

At this all the girls swooned, some fainting after catching Sting glancing at them, while some still tried getting the attention of Gray, who was completely ignoring them.

"Sting, granny better be here or I swear I'm gonna kick you to next semester!

"Chill dude, I heard that she was in the counsellor's office and…there!

Turning Gray was met with the sight of a blond haired girl wearing overalls and glasses coming out of the counsellor's office. Her blond hair was worn in two braided plaits that reached her waist, while her fringe was parted on each side of her face. Her overalls seemed to be way too big on her and she kept shifting her glasses back up her straight nose. Keeping her face down, she made her way down the hall, clutching a few text books and a class schedule. She then stopped in front of a row of lockers and started punching in her new locker combination.

"See haha I told you!"

At this, the surrounding girls laughed and kept complementing Sting on how smart he was, even though they had no idea what he meant by that statement. In truth just by looking at her, Gray couldn't find anything wrong with the way she was dressed. It seemed perfectly normal to him that a girl could wear whatever she wanted even if it was oversized overalls that made her look like a grandmother. Upon further inspection he guessed that she must have a thing for charm bracelets as he caught a glimpse of the silvery gold jewellery dangling from her thin wrist.

After what he assumed to be her finishing up sorting her stuff, he saw her close her locker and headed down their direction.

"Ooo here she comes, great Gray here hold this for me will ya" and with that Sting stuffed his bag into Grays arms and started making his way to the new girl.

"Oi! Do I look like a freaking servant to you!"

"Hell yeah you do, and a very good looking one at that" Sting continued to smirk.

"Sting-sama what about us!" the remaining girls gave their best puppy dog faces to him.

"I'll get back to you ladies later, so keep looking beautiful while I' gone okay" and with that Sting gave them his signature smirk and wink.

"KYAA! Yes Sting-sama" and all scattered to the bathroom to touch up on their makeup.

"You sick bastard" Gray glared at Sting.

With that Sting made his way back to the new girl, who had been slowly making her way up towards them.

"Hey there"

Catching her attention, Sting gasped, which made Gray curious as to what could make his playboy friend take a sharp intake of breath.

"Oi, what's going on here?" making his way up to them, he first glanced at Sting who had a look of utter shock on his face. Then turning his head towards the only other person in the group, Gray had to stop himself from gasping, for staring right back at him was a pair of deep chocolate brown eyes, with flecks of gold imprinted into the Irises.

"He…hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Lucy"

…^*^…

**Thank you for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review! **

**Next chapter will be up soon. Love you guys!**


	2. Chapter 2: Perspective

**WOOHOO! Next chapter! Thank you so much guys for your reviews!**

**Answer to your reviews are at the bottom. **

**Alrighty, we continue with the epic story of how Gray slowly starts falling for Lucy, only to cause unintentional pain in the end.**

**Let's do this!**

**Chapter 2: Perspective**

"_God are those her real eyes!?"_

Gray had forgotten how long he kept staring into Lucy's eyes. Her big, round rimmed glasses all but seemed to just magnify them. He snapped out of his reverie when he felt Sting move beside him.

"Whoa haha well hi there! I'm Sting Eucliffe and this handsome brute of a man is Gray Fullbuster. It's nice to meet you Lucy…"

"Heartfilia. Lucy Heartfilia. It's…it's nice to meet you too." At this, Lucy carefully looked back to Gray, who was already making his way back up the hall.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Lucy then looked back to Sting. She genuinely didn't want her first day at a new school to start off with her being hated. But then again, she was used to it.

"Nah, nah he's fine. So…why does a pretty girl like you wear odd clothes like that?"

At this Lucy looked at Sting and knew why he had approached her. She had met his kind before.

"Um ex…excuse me but I have to get to class. It was nice meeting you Sting." And with that she made her way to her first class.

"What the hell was that." And with that Sting took off in search of Gray.

…**^*^…..**

**[After 1****st**** Period]**

Gray quickly made his way out of class before all the other students did. It had been chemistry and Gildarts –sensei again taught them the fundamentals of making a stick bomb. He seriously thought sometimes that Magnolia West had some of the craziest teachers in all of Fiore.

As he was making his way down the hall he glanced out the window. The sight that met his eyes all but made him come to a full stop. Outside, under one of the many still growing birch trees, was Lucy. She was sitting with her legs crossed, and seemed to just be looking up at the blue sky. Gray had to admit she looked pretty comfortable, even if she did look like a granny in those awful clothes.

"Yo dude, there you are. How was Gildarts-sensei today, still teaching ya how to make the perfect stink bomb?"

"Yeah. I swear man he's crazy."

"Yeah well you know what they say, you are what you eat."

"Huh? Where the hell did food come from?"

"Well who knows, maybe Gildarts-sensei actually just eats and drinks chemicals and maybe that's why he's a crazy genius!"

"You seriously need to stop reading those crazy comic books you have bro."

"Yeah yeah okay what are you…or should I say _who_ are you looking at?" Sting had glanced out the window and saw Lucy sitting under the tree. He then glanced back at Gray and pieced together why his friend was standing like a statue staring out at the newbie.

"What?"

"Aww don't tell me the all high and mighty Gray Fullbuster seems to have developed a soft spot for a said Lucy Heart_filia_?" Sting had rolled his tongue on the last syllable of Lucy's last name.

"No, just wondering when she'll get caught for playing hookie that's all"

"How do you know she's playing hookie?"

"Dude, second period is about to start, and she's just sitting there."

Suddenly, the second period bell rang.

"Told ya. Anyway I'll see you at lunch, I got Biology now and you know how Polyursica-sensei gets all crammy when someone's late to her class."

"Gotcha. Okay dude, but…what do we do about _her_?" emphasising on Lucy, who was still sitting outside watching the sky.

"I don't know, leave her I guess."

"Gray…"

"I am no ones' babysitter! She isn't stupid or dumb, nor does she seem to be handicapped. For all we know, she heard the bell, but like I said, decided to play hookie, and on her first day no less!"

"But she…"

"Oh save it I gotta go, I'll see you at lunch." And with that Gray left. Sting turned back towards the blond haired girl and let out a low sigh before he too began making his way to class.

…**.*^*….**

"...and due to the unique count of our gene chromosomes, this is what makes humans unique from other living organisms..."

Polyursica-sensei just about finished that sentence when the classroom door was slowly opened. Looking up from his seat, Gray found himself looking up to the-now-very-late-to-class Lucy Heartfilia.

"And who may you be?"

"I'm Lu…Lucy Heartfilia ma'am…"

"Speak up and don't stutter. It is unbecoming of a lady."

At this Lucy visibly cringed and gave a low bow.

"I am very sorry for being late to your class sensei."

At this Polyursica-sensei raised her arched eyebrows and gave Lucy an intent gaze.

"And may I ask as to _why_ you are late?"

"I was sitting in the yard watching the sky when I kind of lost track of time." Lucy replied in all honesty. Polyursica-sensei, though visibly upset at the excuse, felt quite impressed with her honesty.

"Alright I will forgive you this once but please refrain from any future tardiness or I will have no choice but to give you detention. Please take a seat. I think there's one at the back by the window."

At this Lucy started making her way to the back of the class, trying to ignore the many stares that were aimed her way. Gray himself couldn't believe Polyursica-sensei! But then again _he_ was _never _late to class.

"Lucy?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Since this is your first time in my class, I would like to ask you a question. What do you think is the most important organ in the body?"

At this the whole class turned to face Lucy, Gray included.

"Well ma'am, I think all organs are important, for without one we won't be able to function properly. But if I had a choice of one, I would choose the heart."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Gray was slowly losing interest since her answer had the most obvious reason. But what he heard next took him by surprise.

"The heart is where love is created."

"That is not a scientific answer my dear."

"I'm sorry I know it isn't, but if you look at it from a different perspective, the heart is where a person feels the most joy when happy, and the most pain when upset."

Gray then turned his attention back to Lucy and the second time that day had to stop himself from gasping out loud, for at that very moment Lucy was bathed in glittering gold rays of sunshine pouring in from the open window, her hair giving off a heavenly glow, as if she was wearing a crown. He slowly turned back to the front and gave himself a mental shake.

"What the hell is wrong with me?!"

…**.^*^….**

**End of another chapter! Gahh! Thanks again guys for reading. The next chapter…find out for yourself in Stealing Love!**

**Special thanks to:**

**MentallydatingGrayFullbuster : Hi! Hope you like this chapter. As you know Lucy is new but not like any average student. She see's things in a different light. Haha I know I love soccer! I'll update as soon as I can. Thank you again!**

**SecretMindOtaku7: Hi! Sorry I didn't put Natsu in this chapter but don't worry, he will defintely be making an appearance in this story, and just to give you a teaser, he plays a very essential role ;) Thank you again for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: You Are On!

**Hey Guys here's chapter 3. I would like to dedicate this chapter to MentallyDatingGrayFullbuster . Thank you so much again for all your help. You are a major lifesaver. I hope you like this chapter. **

**Okay in short: This is where Gray Fullbuster (Inner fan girl squeal!) is dared to date Lucy. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: You. Are. On!**

**[Lunch Time]**

When the lunch bell rang, Gray again was the first up and out of class. It's not that he didn't like he's classes, it was just that as the day went by, that meant it got closer to soccer training. He mentally smiled to himself. Soccer had been his dad's favourite sport. Gray had learnt all his best moves from him.

"Yo! Hello?! Ice princess!" Knocking him out of his day dream, he was met with a confused looking Gajeel Redfox standing in front of him.

"Oi! What's your problem Gajeel?"

"Well sorry miss Icy, but I thought I'd bring you back to planet earth. Had a nice time on planet Full-soccer?" Gajeel smirked.

"Shut up." Gray said as he sat down at their routine lunch table in the courtyard. They were soon joined by others on the team.

"Heyo! So…I hear there's a granny in school? Haha well Mag High is one crazy school after all." Turning around, Gray was met by his fellow team mates who were also his friends.

"Shut up Rufus…is she hot"

"Oh like you're any better Loke!"

"Is she manly?" **(gotta be Elfman XD)**

"Well she looks like a man."

"Really?!"

"Well I think so."

"This coming from the guy who tried to flirt with her." Gray eyed Sting.

"Yeah well that's a loss now. She wouldn't even look at me properly."

"You mean she didn't gawk at you?"

"Shut up Rufus."

And with that the whole group started erupting into gleeful laughter. Soon they were half way through their lunch when two girls walked by, their conversation catching Grays attention.

"Did you see that new chick in the overalls?"

"Yeah, like seriously, did she transport herself here from the 70's or something?"

"And what is with those glasses? She looks like my grandmother."

"Well she seems to like being alone. Not to mention boring! What is so amazing about sitting under a tree and looking up at nothing."

"Maybe she's just weird."

"Maybe she's sending a mental message to her alien friends she so much likes looking up at." And with that one of the girls put two fingers on her head and started giving weird faces while making weird blooping noises, while the other girl just laughed.

Gray couldn't help but frown. He didn't even know Lucy that well, so he doubted those two girls knew her too. Then standing up, he started walking towards the other side of the court yard where the birch trees grew.

"Yo Gray where are you going?"

"I'm just going to check up on something."

"Ooohhh he's going to check up on Lucy" Sting laughed as he stood up and made his way towards Gray.

"Lucy? Oh you mean granny? I gotta see this."

"Count me in."

"A man has to see if she is manly enough to be a man."

"Elfman, she's a chick…right?"

"Yes Loke so quit it and hurry up."

Soon they were all making their way through the court yard. Due to this, almost all the girls stopped eating their lunches and their chatting to look up in awe at their dream boys.

Gray seemed to be completely oblivious to this, that or he was very good at playing ignorance. This was very different though from his other two…outgoing team mates.

"Hi loke!" one girl yelled from her position by the outdoor fountain.

"Hey beautiful. Watch out, you wouldn't want to fall into that fountain and get your pretty self all wet now would you." At that he gave her a wink through his blue tinted spectacles.

"Ye-yes Loke" the girl stuttered, visibly blushing and settling back more firmly in her seat.

"Sting sama!" Turning to his right, Sting was met with his usual group of fan girls. At times he found their admiration for him cute, but other times, he found it genuinely funny at how they all seemed to like him, but only ever noticing the Sting that was the soccer star, but never anything outside of that. Still it was fun to see them admire him, mostly because he admired himself.

"Hello ladies. I'm sorry I can't spend time with you all today but how about I make up for it at lunch time tomorrow?"

"YES Sting-sama!"

"We'll be waiting for you."

"You better meet us tomorrow"

"Don't worry gorgeous I'll see you all tomorrow. Till then, keep staying beautiful."

And like always they immediately scattered to the bathroom to touch up on their makeup.

"You are one sick bastard you know that?" Gray glared at Sting.

"Aww is Gray-kun jealous that I'm not spending too much time with him? Don't worry hunny, you're still my number one!" Sting blew Gray a playful kiss.

"DON'T call me that." Gray was slowly losing patience.

"Gray-kun, Gray-kun, Gra…"

"Hey is that her?"

All the boys now turned their attention towards the grove of birch trees seemingly growing in rows giving off a scene of a miniature forest. Under one of the trees sat Lucy. Gray noted how she still sat the same way as she did the first time he saw her, with her legs crossed, both arms on each side of her and plainly looking up at the sky.

She had a look of wonder, though Gray was truly confused as to what was so wonderful about looking up at a bunch of clouds and the odd flying leaf. Seeing her so at peace, Gray wondered how she seemed to be the only person in the whole grove. Wasn't she scared? But then again they were in school, it was safe here.

"Whoa is that her?!"

"Oh man you were right she does look like a granny."

"She does look manly."

"What the hell is she wearing?"

They all kept standing there discussing how Lucy looked when they saw a small grey dove land on top of her lap.

"Hi there birdy."

She sounded so…tired, pained even. Gray couldn't describe it any other way and now he figured out how deep her breathing was, with her chest making very slow up and down motions.

The rest of the boys kept staring at her, still trying to figure out how any girl would want to dress up like that. In the end they began slowly making their way back to their lunch table, completely losing interest in her.

"Gray? We're heading back. You coming?

"Yeah. Let's go"

When passing by Sting, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Gray, what's with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you always having a split personality when it comes to Lucy? One minute you can't seem to stop staring at her, then the next you dismiss her like she doesn't exist."

"What? She seems…weird. I mean look at her, sitting there by herself talking to birds?"

"Gray…

"Look, I don't know her. I honestly don't want to know her. Actually, what I really want to know is a way for us to win our upcoming match this Friday, so come on lets head back." And with that Gray began making his way back to the rest of the team.

"You didn't answer my question Gray."

"I thought I did."

Following Gray, Sting gave a last glance at Lucy, who had her eyes closed while the dove still sat on her lap before making his way back to the rest of the team.

**[Soccer Practice]**

"Oi! Fullbuster! Come on focus! Move! Goal that bloody ball already!"

Putting all his focus on goaling the ball, Gray gave a well-aimed kick, which sent the ball flying through the air and hit the net with supreme force. Panting, he turned to Capricorn-sensei who gave him a thumbs-up before returning to his clipboard. He soon sat down on the benches with the rest of the team.

"Hey check it out, it's that granny chick."

Gray looked up to see Lucy walking on the other side of the field, seemingly talking to herself. He turned to find fellow soccer players snickering at her.

"Oh man I feel sorry for the sucker who actually falls for her."

"You mean there's someone like that who exits?"

At this they both burst out laughing, finding it hilarious that there would ever be someone who would want to go out with a loner like Lucy.

"Hey! Shouldn't you guys be practising instead of wasting your time gossiping like little school girls?"

"Whoa, who's got your panties in a twist?"

"Yeah man chill."

"I will 'chill' once I know we can beat Grimoire Academy on Friday. So get your asses up and go practice!" Gray had now captured the attention of the whole team.

"Hey now why so defensive Guuraayy? You got something for that chick." At this Gray had to supress his building anger.

"Hey hey what's going on here?" Looking up Gray was now surrounded by the entire team, with Loke, Elfman, Gajeel, Rufus and Sting standing on the side.

"Mr Team captain here likes that granny over there" signalling to the now almost out of sight Lucy.

"Hey man knock it off." It was Sting who had spoken up.

"Oh well didn't know you went after grandmothers now too Stingy."

"You shut your mouth!"

"Hey! Enough! Get back to practise. And you two, stop talking about Lucy like that."

"Why? She your girlfriend or something?"

"As if! But don't talk about her like that. It's rude and not to mention a waste of your time."

"Well then since _you _seem to know her so well, why don't you…I don't know, go out with her?"

At this the whole team became eerily silent.

"What!"

"Yeah, we dare ya Gray. We dare you to date that granny and to make it more interesting, why don't we make it…mmhh…game related?"

At this Gray looked to the two players with disgust, but also with intrigue.

"We dare you to date Lucy Heartfilia from now till next Fridays' game, where you have to break up with her in front of the whole school." At this Sting visibly cringed, closely seeing Gray repress his anger. Gray wasn't a bad guy, but he would never give up a bet or a challenge.

"And why in the world would I ever do that?"

"Hah! Knew you were too chicken, like you are on the field, like your dad. Some captain yo…"

At this Gray quickly got up and held the boy by his collar shirt.

"Don't you EVER talk about my father you bastard!"

"Aww did I hit a soft spot."

Gray was now looking murderous.

"Come on Gray, what you gonna do? Hit me?" He really thought about it but knew it would cost him his game. So he did the only thing he could do at that moment.

"You. Are. On!"

And with that started walking back to the field. Sting turned to find the whole team snickering, with some members already making bets. He then turned to find Rufus, Loke, Gajeel and Elfman staring at him with a look of worry on their faces. It wasn't that they were worried about Gray actually winning the bet, it was what would come after it that they were concerned about.

"Gray…

**Another chapter done! Sorry this was a bit long but the whole idea just flowed out of my mind! I hope you guys liked it XD**

**I know, I know, how can people be sooo mean to Lucy! She's so adorable! **

**Thanks again for reading and please review! :D  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Strength

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 4! Thank you for all your reviews! Reading them made my day and gave me the added boost to write this chapter. Replys to reviews are at the end of this chapter. Like all chapters, this one is also very close to my heart. I hope you all like it!**

**Chapter 4: Strength**

**[At Lucy's House]**

Opening the front door, Lucy was met with the sound of a loud crash that could have only come from one place…the kitchen.

"Darn it! Thank God Lucy isn't…

Standing in the open door way that led from the hallway to the kitchen, a now giggling Lucy came face to face with an ash covered Erza Scarlet.

"…home. Hi Lucy! Um…it's not what it looks like."

"Hehe right, did you try experimenting with your cooking skills again Erza?"

A now very embarrassed Erza squeaked at the comment, knowing that she couldn't lie to her best friend.

"N-no…oh alright fine! Yes I have been, but only because…well…okay, you know that new volunteer soccer coach down at the shelter?"

"You mean Jelly, no…Jello, no…Jam!,no…Jel…Jella!?"

"Yes Jellal, well…he…kind of asked me…out on a date…

Glancing up, Erza noted the very blank look on Lucy's face right before it turned into a full-out grin.

"That's great! Congratulations!...though I'm still confused as to what your cooking skills has got to do with the da…No! No way! Erza Scarlet you crazy girl! Please, _please_ tell me you did not just offer to cook him dinner?" a now very hyper Lucy asked.

"Well…it slipped out! I mean I have never been on a date before and I panicked and…Oh! This is gonna be a disaster!" Erza slowly slumped to the ground, landing with a 'thud' and leaned against the bottom bench drawer, her legs outstretched and her head hung low, resulting in her luscious long firery red hair falling all around her.

Seeing this, Lucy made her way towards Erza, who was also flushed from admitting more than she wanted to. She then sat down next to her and gave her a small nudge.

"Hey…

Looking up, Erza came face to face with her blond haired friend. Lucy then wound her arms around Erza's waste and leaned against her.

"You'll be fine. You're always fine. You're Erza Scarlet! You're the toughest girl I know. If you can beat Justin Fried at a game of musical chairs in the 3rd grade, you can definitely handle a date with a Mr Fernandes." Lucy now raised her head and gave Erza an honest smile.

"Thank you Lucy."

"Hey Erza! I found th…Oohhh."

Looking up, both girls were met with a very confused looking Levy McGarden, who was carrying some clear plastic bags of vegetables, pasta, bread and…is that motor oil?

"Hey Levy" Erza said.

"Levy…what is with the motor oil?" Lucy was now looking very confused.

"Lucy! Oh this? Um…"

"Relax Levy. I told her to get it Lucy." Lucy now turned back to Erza, eyeing her curiously.

"I thought that cooking on the stove would take too long so I went online and found out that if you build a fire and douse it with motor oil, it'll burn twice as hot, so I thought that if I used motor oil, the food will cook twice as fast." Erza said, smiling like she just found out the most wonderful thing in the world.

"Um, I'm pretty sure that that website meant that for something else like I don't know, burning rubbish or you know…using it to explode stuff, among other more…dangerous stuff."

Erza now reverted back to her sullen self and again hung her head low.

"See! I can't even interpret online information properly! What is wrong with me!?"

Levy now made her way to the two girls after putting the stuff she bought on the counter and sat down on the other side of Erza, putting her arms around Erza above Lucy's returning arms.

"Erza, There is nothing, and I mean _nothing _wrong with you. You are unique, beautiful, compassionate, a bit crazy at times…" At this all three girls giggled at Levy's comment.

"…and you're probably just over excited about your date with Jellal." Levy continued.

"I mean wouldn't we all act like this when we get our first dates? We know it's _your_ first date, so it's good to be a little giddy. We're so happy for you Erza." Levy concluded.

"Yeah we are. That's how much we love you." Lucy added.

"Thank you so much guys. You two always seem to know just how to cheer me up."

"Hey, that's what friends are for right?" Levy smiled.

"You mean _best _friends." Erza corrected.

Erza then raised her head and looked at her two friends. They had been best friends since they were kids, with Erza being the oldest of the three, being two years older than both girls. They had gone through so much together, and were still going through some hard times. But through it all, they had stuck together, not surprisingly resulting in them moving in together three years prior.

"I love you guys so much. I don't know what I would do without you guys." An emotional Erza commented.

"We love you too beautiful."

At this all three girls held each other's hands and squeezed them tightly. This was always their routine when one of them felt down and upset. They would always sit down side by side and hold each other's hands, telling each other that everything was going to be alright.

"…Okay! Well then…what do we do now? Should I just cancel the date?" Erza said after a while, feeling a lot better after their affectionate sharing.

"What? No! Just say that instead of you cooking dinner, why don't you two go and take an evening walk in the park by the pond. When's your date by the way?" Lucy asked.

"Um Thursday, why?"

"Oh then all the better! There's a full moon on that night and if you walk near the pond, I'm sure that the moon will shine right above it, giving off a romantic glow to your night."

"Oh Lucy! You sure? I don't want to overdo it. I mean it's just our first date and…

"Erza, if Jellal asked you to go out with him, and agreed to come over for a taste of _your cooking_, I'm sure he'll jump at the chance to take a romantic stroll near the pond with you."

"Yeah great idea Lucy!" Levy chimed in.

"Thanks again guys." Erza smiled.

"No problem. It'll b…

Suddenly, Lucy bent over, clutching her chest in a tight grip.

"Lucy!"

Both Erza and Levy soon rushed to Lucy's side.

"I…I'm fi-fine guys." Lucy breathed.

"No your not! Did you take your meds today?" A now very worried looking Erza commented.

"Ha…sorry no I forgot."

"Lucy, how can you forget something like that!?"

"If _you _haven't forgotten, today was the first day at my new school."

"Oh yeah how was it?! No, answer that later, Lucy where's your meds, I'll get them." Levy asked.

"In the side pocket of my bag in the hallway."

Soon Levy disappeared into the hallway, only to return with a small yellow-orange prescription tube bottle, filled with long white and green tablets. Erza grabbed a cup of water and gave it to Lucy, who then swallowed two tablets in one gulp.

After a few minutes, Lucy unclenched her chest, her breathing back to normal.

"See? Much better."

Seeing Lucy's smiling flushed face, Erza knew that there was something more that boarded to her calmness.

"Lucy….how was your first day at school?"

At this Lucy visibly frowned for a second before turning to both girls, giving them a glassy smile.

"Fine why?" she sighed.

"Lucy…

"Guys…" At this Lucy gave both girls a reassuring smile. "I know my school life hasn't always been…normal, but I really like this school. I like my classes, my teachers and I found my new favourite place."

"Oh and where is that?"

"A grove of birch trees, growing on the corner side of the courtyard. I swear, it's so beautiful there. I sat there during break before second period and during lunch time. I felt it guys. I felt it. I felt it, just sitting there staring up at the blue sky. I felt mum. I felt…

At this Lucy gave a small gasp. It wasn't a sad one, but one of relief and comfort.

"Aww baby."

"Heh, it's okay Erza. I honestly felt…light, calm." Lucy gave a genuine smile to both girls.

Both girls came and gave her comforting hugs.

"Lucy, we are so proud of you. You are one strong girl, probably the strongest girl I have ever met." Levy said after pulling away, putting a hand to cup Lucy's chick.

"You are and you know you're mum would be so proud of you as well." Erza agreed.

"I know." Now all three girls started smiling to each other.

"Alrighty! Let's…um…what are we doing again?" A now lost Levy asked.

"Haha! I think we were going to help me prep for my date?"

"Oh right, right! OOhhh this is going to be fun! Woohoo!"

"Only you'll get hyper-active at _my _date Levy."Erza giggled.

"Why thank you Erza-chan." Levy laughed.

Lucy smiled at this, silently watching her two friends exchange ideas on how to 'fix' Erza, as Levy put it.

She knew that everything was going to be alright. It always was in the end.

**[Next day at school]**

"What the fuck did I just do!?" Gray was now mentally berating himself as to why he had agreed to be a part of such a ridiculous bet while sitting on the stone building entrance steps. Sure he didn't want to be seen upon as a coward, but this was different. He had been angry. He had lost control of his emotions.

"Hey…

Turning, Gray was met with the sight of a solemn looking Sting and Gajeel.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Gray knew that they were worried about him. They had been friends since they were seven years old, growing up together, joining the same soccer clubs, playing and winning games together. They did it all.

"Gray, you don't have to pull that "Hey I'm Gray Fullbuster and I'm indestructible" shit on us, we know you're still peeved from yesterdays' little tiff." Gajeel replied.

"Yeah man. You know…you can always pull out. It was just a stupid bet anyway…

"Oh and give those assholes the satisfaction of me looking like a fool! No way! Forget it."

"And Lucy? What about her?"

"What about her?"

"Dude, she's new, she's already being classed as a weird loner. You want to be associated with…that?"

"Hey she's not that bad." Sting commented.

"Well I don't care. It's only till next Friday. Plus, I can't even think about it right now. This Friday's Game with Grimoire Academy is my main priority. Dating Lucy will just be like taking on an assignment."

"_Shit!"_

At this Gray gave himself a mental smack on the head. He didn't mean it that way. He didn't even know Lucy! He just couldn't deal with the distractions right now.

"Well, I hope you know what you're in for dude. Lucy is still a chick. She still has feelings. You haven't even talked to her yet, so I don't think going up to her all of a sudden and going "hey we've never met but will you go out with me?" is gonna receive the desired result." Gajeel stated a-matter-of-factly.

"I've met her before."

"Yeah before you ran away. I was there remember?" Sting corrected.

"Yeah well…

Catching a blur of blonde, he looked up to see Lucy making her way up the school terrace stairs, dressed in faded grey baggy jeans and an oversized sweater, clutching the straps of her school bag, her hair again worn in two braids and wearing her signature glasses, magnifying her brown eyes.

Gray couldn't stop staring at her. She did look like a grandmother, wearing clothes like that. But he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something off about her. Then again, there were a lot of things off about her, starting with her dressing habits.

Getting up, he started making his way to Lucy.

"Dude! You can't be serious!" Sting spoke out.

Turning around, Gray smirked and nodded.

"Yeah I am. Better get it over and done with."

"Gray, it's not a joke anymore. You know as well as I do that this will NOT end well." Sting said in a serious tone.

"What does that suppose to mean?" Gray was genuinely confused from his friend's statement.

Before Sting could reply, Lucy had walked passed their group, without giving a glance towards any of them. Losing interest in Stings earlier comment, Gray quickly made his way up to Lucy, leaving a very aggravated looking Sting and Gajeel behind.

"Hey, Lucy!"

Turning around, Lucy faced up to Gray, suddenly shocked that the captain of the schools soccer team was talking to her.

"Ye-yes?" she asked, pushing up her glasses at the same time.

"Um hi. We met before. I'm Gray remember?" Gray said with a small smile.

"Yeah I remember. It's nice to meet you again. Is there something you want?"

"Uh not really, just…um…

"_How the hell do I do this! Crap, I can't even look at her properly without thinking about the people standing around staring at us."_

It was true that they had attracted a small crowd of silent spectators, but he decided to dismiss it.

"I was wondering, are you free this Friday? It's just that I have a game on and since you're new I thought it would be cool if you could come and cheer on our team. Well that's if you're not busy or anything." Gray said while trying to supress the sudden burning in his cheeks.

"Um…yeah sure why not. Can I um…bring friends along, if that's okay?"

"Yeah sure, no problem. Okay so the game starts at 7.30pm and it's free so you don't have to worry about getting in."

"Okay. Thank you for inviting me." And with that, Lucy gave a cheery smile, making Gray try extra hard to control his now burning cheeks.

"yo-you're welcome."

"Alrighty then, I'll see you. Bye" and with that Lucy turned around and began making her way towards the buildings entrance, leaving a flustered looking Gray behind.

"_Just till next Friday, just till next Friday."_ Gray kept telling himself.

He could survive a week with Lucy Heartfilia. But in the back of his mind, he knew that he couldn't allow himself to get too close to her. It was a bet. Nothing more. Though, he couldn't get the image of Lucy's beautiful, cheerful smile out of his head. Then it hit him. This was going to take a lot of effort to keep it a completely platonic-based relationship.

"_Crap!"_

"So, Capitan Fullbuster has finally made a move aye?"

Looking back, Gray was met with the sight of Rick a.k.a Racer and Mike, a.k.a Midnight, the two players who had dared him into the bet.

"Ha! didn't think you had in ya Fullbuster. This is going to be interesting."

Then walking up to Gray, Midnight spoke softly into Gray's ear,

"Make sure to put on a good show. You wouldn't want to look like an idiot in front of the whole school now would you?" He snickered. He then pulled back, now looking straight into Grays very angry face.

"Hoho! Someone's getting a little fussy."

If Gray had looked angry a minute ago, he was looking murderous now.

"Get the fuck away from me!" He said slowly with a low voice, though deadly at the same time.

Midnight smirked before turning back to Racer. Then glancing back,

"You know, you really are something. Seemingly charming on the outside, but really, you're a wolf in sheep's clothing." Then he and Racer made their way towards their first class.

Gray clenched his fist so tightly that he wasn't surprised when he felt something liquid sliding down along his palm.

"Those bastards." He said to himself. He knew that Midnight and Racer never really liked him, and the feeling was mutual, but he had always been professional with them since they were on the same team. He did not need the added pressure of conflicts within the team that could jeopardise a game.

Soon he then made his way into the school building. After turning from the entrance hallway into the main hallway, Gray was met with the scene of boys and girls quietly snickering at a now flustered Lucy Heartfilia. She was carrying a few romance novels in her hands when suddenly a girl came up to her and snatched the top book away.

"Haha, you can't be serious. Why in the world are you reading romance novels? Is it that you have fantasies of finding a prince charming for yourself? Well sorry to burst your bubble honey, but I don't think you'll find him in this world. On your alien planet maybe."

At this Lucy snatched the book back from the snickering girl before briskly walking away from the scene, disappearing when turning into another hall way.

Gray felt a pang of guilt wash over him. She hadn't even been new for more than two days and already she was being treated like an outcast. He glanced a look around him, finding most students still whispering about how weird she acted and how abysmal she looked in those clothes she wore.

She hadn't even done anything to make any of them even notice her. Gray knew that this was not going to be easy, but decided to put the thought aside from his mind. His first priority was the game on Friday. He would think about Lucy later, when he had time to indulge in such thoughts.

**Hey Guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you again for reading and please review please, it means a lot! :D**

**Special Thanks to:**

**MentallyDatingGrayFullbuster : Hi! Thank you very much. Sorry about confusing you with the dialogs. I hope you found it easier to follow who was saying what in this chapter. Yeah Sting does sound motherly XD just how I like him XD**

**WhiteSkytherXx: HI! Thank you for your kind comment! It made my day knowing that this story can hook people in. I wanted to make it a bit different by totally changing Lucy's personality without removing her strong will and love of life. **

**Amyskywalker: Hi! Sorry, I hope this is long enough for you. I actually had to stop writing before I gave away half of chapter 5 lol . Natsu will be making an entrance into this story soon, and yes he plays a very essential role ;) teaser: wait for the next two chapters ;)**

**Rockin' angels: Hi! Aww thank you so much! Yeah I know, some people just don't see the person beyond the outside. Lucy is an like a geoid stone, it's rough and course on the outside, but on the inside, it shines and gives off amazing beauty. Lucy is just like that. :D**


	5. Chapter 5: Acceptance

**Hi Guys! I am so sorry I couldn't put chapter 5 up sooner but here it is! :D. Thank you all again who have been reading this story and for all the reviews. Your reviews have been like a delicious chocolate cake that I gobble up with a smile on my face and puts a warm feeling in my tummy :D. **

**Also I would just like to say that this story was inspired by Lies and Love, by Cesia14. That story is AMAZING! If you haven't read it yet, go right now and read it! I swear that story touched my heart so much, I fangirl squealed from chapter 1 to 20!**

**Once again, answers to reviews are at the bottom, as well as some teasers O_O .You guys are the best and I love you! 3 XD**

**Chapter 5: Acceptance**

**[Lunch Time]**

Sitting under her favourite tree, Lucy sighed. This morning's scene wasn't exactly new to her. She had gone through it so many times that she lost count and just learned to accept it. She had never once thought herself beautiful, of course Levy and Erza had reminded her countless times otherwise. But to Lucy, beauty meant being beautiful both on the inside _and_ on the outside. Looking down at herself, she doubted that she hardly fit that profile.

Suddenly, the words of the girl who had confronted her in the morning came rushing back.

"_Is it that you have fantasies of finding a prince charming for yourself? Well sorry to burst your bubble honey, but I don't think you'll find him in this world…"_

Lucy had to fight back the urge to let the tears that had been threatening to fall since the morning fall now. She was used to being called a weirdo, loser, loner, even bitch at times, but she had never in her life been told that she would end up alone forever.

"Am I that ugly?" She said out loud.

She didn't realize that she was already crying, feeling her tears run down her now pink tainted cheeks. She gasped as she finally accepted yet another reality check to herself. She had always wanted her life to be like that of a fairy tale, but knew that that was never going to happen.

"It's okay Lucy, don't cry. It's okay. It doesn't matter anyway." She mentally told herself and yet, it just felt all the more worse, and since there was no one else in the whole grove, Lucy finally let it all out, silently crying and gripping the front of her sweater up to hide the bottom half of her face, all the while looking up to the sky.

"Momma…momma I miss you." She gasped in between sobs.

Lucy had always been a happy girl. She loved life. But she had feelings too, and in the end they always got hurt.

**[After School]**

While walking home, Lucy had decided to stop by the park. She knew that if she went home now, she wouldn't be able to convince both Erza and Levy that she was fine. She just needed some time to compose herself just enough to convince them otherwise.

Upon reaching the park, she decided to sit by the pond. Immediately her thoughts wondered to how Erza's date would turn out if she really brought Jellal here at night. She could imagine the look on Jellal's face when he took a look at Erza when the light hit her at the right angle. She would look like an angel and Lucy knew that he would instantly fall in love with her.

She then stood up and walked to the edge of the pond. She then kneeled down and took a look at her reflection in the water. She couldn't help but revert back to her sad self.

Staring back at her was the reflection of a girl with golden blonde hair that was done in two braids, the fringe ruffled and messy. Her big circular glasses were on the tip of her nose, so she automatically pushed them back up. At this she saw how they immediately magnified her eyes.

Her eyes. While growing up, people had always said that she was like an exact replica of her mother, but she had inherited the Heartfilia eyes. Her father's family had always been renowned for having deep chocolate brown eyes, but what had always made them stand out were the gold flecks that were imbedded into the irises. Taking one more look at herself she sighed.

"It's okay if I'm ugly, as long as I'm "me", right momma?" She said looking up to the sky. It was more of a reassurance to herself that she would not change who she was for the sake of others.

**XDXDX**

Lucy had been kneeling by the edge for quite some time when suddenly a group of small children that were riding bicycles drove past her. One drove quite close to her and before Lucy knew what was happening, she had lost balance of herself and felt her body being pulled towards the pond. She squeaked, immediately closing her eyes and preparing for impact, but her body never came into contact with the water.

Opening her eyes, she suddenly realised that she was dangling over the water and yet wasn't in any contact with it. It was then that she noticed a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, seemingly keeping her in place. Snapping out of her sudden shock, she decided to chance a glance at the arms owner.

Upon looking up, she was met with strange onyx coloured eyes staring down at her with a look of worry in them. They were so huge that she thought that it was because she was looking through her glasses, but then soon realized that it was due to the person having widened his eyes at the same time she did.

"Hey, are you okay?"

His voice was soft, yet held a certain strength to it. She then took in his whole face. He had lean, sharp features, an angular jaw and evenly tan skin. But what got Lucy the most was the fact that he had pink coloured hair. She had to stifle a sudden giggle before looking back down at his entwined arms around her.

Seeing her look down to his arms, the boy quickly got the visual message and quickly helped her to her feet before letting her go.

After Lucy finished dusting herself off, she looked back to her supposed saviour, who was closely watching her. At this, Lucy became a bit uncomfortable.

"Well th-thank you for sa-saving me from falling." She stuttered.

"_Why am I stuttering?"_ She mentally smacked herself.

"Haha well you're welcome. It really was nothing. Those kids are learning how to ride bicycles, so please don't be mad at them."

Lucy looked up at the boy, quite surprised at his statement. Taking a better look at him, she saw that he wore knee length board shorts and a light red sleeveless vest. He wore thin strap sandals and, peculiarly, a white scarf with scale-like designs imprinted into it was wrapped around his neck.

She took note of the hard rigid muscles of his chest and abdomen that stood out from under his thin vest when a sudden slight breeze blew passed them. His arms, as she had just felt, were also muscular, but did not present the hard, rigid veins of that of a body builder. In all, he seemed well built and presented a form of that of an athlete.

Looking back to his face, Lucy noted how he also was surveying her.

"Done with your scanning?"

At this Lucy squeaked and blushed about the same colour as Erza's hair.

"So-sorry, I didn't mean to stare." She said before giving a slight bow.

At this the boy widened his eyes yet again, clearly surprised that she took his comment seriously. He slowly made his way to her and pulled her up, tilting her chin up to face him with his thumb and index finger.

"Hey, it's okay. It was just a joke." He said while staring into her eyes.

"_My God! Her eyes…."_

He quickly let her go and adjusted himself. He wasn't a pervert or anything, it was just that he was honestly surprised to see eyes like that.

"Oh-okay. Well it's okay. I don't blame those kids. I was the one kneeling too close to the edge of the pond like an idiot." Lucy said.

"Hehe yeah, those kids are something. And don't blame yourself. I always do that sometimes, though I think my reason is a bit different from yours, unless you like looking for fish too." He said with a grin.

Lucy took note of his grin and immediately smiled back.

"Haha um no, I don't really look for fish, but I did see some."

"Haha, see?" He laughed soon after that, with Lucy joining him moments later.

"Hey! Onee-chan!"

Coming up in the rear, Lucy saw one of the children that had passed by her only just minutes ago, looking up to the young man. He had black hair and wore blue shorts and a red T-shirt. He looked about six to seven years old.

He soon reached both teens, his full attention to the boy.

"Onee-chan! I was riding up that small hill over there and guess what? I did it without my training wheels, see?

And with that, the young boy pointed to the bottom of his bike, where they were vacant of training wheels. He was smiling as he said that, which made Lucy smile to herself.

"_So KAWAII!"_

After a moment, the young boy seemed to finally notice Lucy, giving her a look that ranged between that of curiosity and mild surprise.

"Who's this onee-chan?" the boy asked while still looking at Lucy.

Lucy, at the question, automatically took a step back.

"This is the girl who almost fell into the pond because you drove too close to her." The boy accused, though his voice was filled with humour instead of seriousness.

At this the young boy's eyes widened and he immediately got off his bike and ran towards Lucy. Then, to Lucy's utter surprise, he hugged her. He then looked up to her with worrying eyes.

"I'm sorry miss. I hope I didn't hurt you or anything." He stated while still hugging Lucy.

Lucy, in complete shock yet seeing the young boy's genuine apologetic face, soon relaxed and put her hands on his head and gently stroked him.

"It's okay. Really, I'm fine, see?" she gestured toward her unharmed self.

At this the young boy immediately smiled and released her, but still stood in front of her. He looked at her up and down and the next words that came out of his mouth shocked Lucy so much, she thought she misheard him.

"You're really pretty." He said.

Lucy, again for the up tenth time that day, widened her eyes from pure shock. She stared down at the boy, speechless. She didn't think that anyone outside her family would have ever called, or even think of her as "pretty" again after what happened today. This really was a change in predicament.

"Um…thank you." And with that Lucy gave one of her most genuine and honest smiles, feeling all the sadness from before slowly disappear.

The boy smiled back at her before turning back to the older looking boy.

"Onee-chan, we better go, it's getting late and I'm hungry." He then gave a very cute pout in Lucy's opinion.

"Alright, alright haha. Why don't you go get the other kids ready and I'll be there in a minute."

At this the young boy gave a nod before turning back to Lucy.

"Oh and miss, I forgot to tell you, my name is Romeo. Romeo Conbolt. It was really nice meeting you." He said with a smile.

"Hello Romeo. My name is Lucy and it was nice meeting you too." She waved as he got onto his bike.

Soon he was riding back to the rest of the children that were now waiting by the entrance gate. And so that just left Lucy and the mystery boy who, she just realized, she had no clue of what his name was even though they had been talking for a while now.

After a few moments, he spoke up.

"Lucy huh? Wow, that's a really pretty name." he seemed to breathe out.

At this she seemed to look at him with a bit of humour in her eyes.

"You don't have to say that because your brother did" She commented.

"I'm not…and Romeo isn't my brother. His dad and my dad are old friends, so he's always over at my place. So yeah, in some sense he is like a brother to me." He smiled.

"…and you know, what he said wasn't a lie."

Lucy was now looking straight into his face, feeling her whole face heat up.

"Huh?" was all she seemed to get out of her mouth.

Chuckling he resumed,

"I said he didn't lie when he said that you are pretty. You are." He now shifted his position from leaning against the nearby tree so that he was now standing up straight. Now he was walking up to her and stood at an arms-length away from her. He was really tall, about the same height as Gray.

"How are you getting home?" he soon enquired, shoving his hands into his side pockets.

"Oh my house is just around the corner from here so I'll walk." She replied.

"You sure? I could drop you off while dropping the kids off?"

Lucy looked up at him and, for a second, thought she saw a slight indication of worry and…something else in his deep onyx eyes.

"No it's okay, I'll be fine. Plus, I think you better take those kids home first. They look really tired." She indicated towards the group of children, now slumped over their bikes.

"Oh yeah, guess you're right." But before he could make any move to leave, Lucy spoke out,

"Sorry! But I uh…I-I never got your name?" she asked, almost whispered.

Luckily, he caught her shy voice and gave a handsome, though somewhat goofy smile.

"The name's Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

At this Lucy returned his smile.

"It was nice meeting you Natsu, and thank you again for saving me."

"It was nice meeting you too and it wasn't a problem. I would save you as many times as you wanted me to." He added playfully, and yet held a touch of honesty to his voice.

At his comment Lucy blushed again, although this time it felt more like burning than a blush. Seeing this, Natsu smiled and turning, was already walking up the path.

"Oh and Lucy?"

Hearing her name, she looked up at his retreating figure.

"No more venturing near the pond looking for fish, or you may find Moby Dick instead." He said with a wink, lifting his hand to give a single wave before now jogging off up the path.

Lucy stood there, trying to process everything that had happened that afternoon, before a wide grin lit up her face.

"Did you hear that momma?" she said while looking up at the sky.

"He said I was pretty!" and then Lucy hugged her bag that she had picked up from the pavement close to herself, her smile still on her face. Then it faded as she glanced at her watch, seeing the time.

"Oh no! Erza is going to KILL me!" and with that started making her own way in the opposite direction of where Natsu and the children went, a smile still on her face.

"_Someone thinks I'm pretty…."_ She thought as she was walking, silently thanking God that there was at least someone who thought she didn't look weird, or even ugly, but actually thought that she was pretty, and that had been enough for her.

**XDXDX**

Looking back, Natsu saw a now fading Lucy walk in the opposite direction before he and his little posy began on their own merry way.

"_Lucy huh?"_ at this he smiled.

He was definitely meeting her again, he was making sure of it.

**XDXDX**

**[Next day at school (Wednesday)]**

Lucy was feeling a whole lot better when she arrived at school the next day. She still couldn't get the image of the boy-Natsu-out of her head. He had seemed really genuine when he had said that she looked pretty. As much as she wanted to think of the bad and more practical reason as to _why_ he had said it, like him lying just to be polite to her, she couldn't bring herself to not-believe him. Maybe it was because of his smile. That goofy smile that seemed to absent-mindedly put an involuntary grin on her face.

While making her way up a flight of stairs, she accidently bumped into someone, causing her to drop the text books she had been carrying.

"Oh I am so very sorry!" she squeaked.

"Haha its ok, happens all the time."

Looking up she was met with the sight of a now grinning Loke.

"O-oh." She had heard that he was the school playboy. This was not going to be easy.

"I-I'm sorry again for bumping into you. Please excuse me, I have to get to class." But before she could escape, Loke had whipped out his hand and had grabbed her elbow.

"Ha! You're that granny chick aren't ya?"

Lucy visibly frowned, yet another nick name created for her.

"Her name is Lucy." Boomed a loud, yet authoritative voice.

Both looked up to find none other than Gray Fullbuster standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at both of them before he turned his full attention to Loke.

"Loke aren't you late for class?" it wasn't a question.

"U-uh yeah. Sorry Lucy. See ya!" He smiled, though she knew it was forced.

Disappearing down the stairs, Lucy then returned her gaze to see Gray coming down and stopping in front of her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Thank you."

"Don't mind Loke. He may seem like a bad guy at times, but he really is one of the good ones, believe me. He's had my back more times than I can count in the past."

At this Lucy looked up at him and gave a small smile.

"You trust him that much?"

"Yeah I do." At this he gave Lucy a careful glance before continuing, "Hey, you know, about what happened yesterday morning…

"Forget about it. It's not exactly…new for me. I just learned a long time ago to accept it.

Gray gave her a sad look before continuing,

"But still, you don't deserve it. They don't even know you…

"You don't know me." Lucy innocently commented.

Gray now was honestly shocked. True, he knew he didn't really know her that well, but hearing it from her own lips, hearing that he himself didn't know anything about her, he felt his chest twist tightly on the inside, though he didn't know why.

"I know, but…well…I would like to." He said slowly, looking at Lucy with a face she couldn't quite understand.

"I mean, I know it's only been your third day here but I would really like to get to know you, even as a friend, and I'm not being a total ass by saying this, but I really think you need one right about now."

Lucy was at a loss for words. Gray Fullbuster had just asked her if she could be friends with him. _Her_.

"So what do you say?, wanna give the captain of the soccer team a chance to show you that not all people at this school are all heartless beave-wranglers?"

At this Lucy's previous smile seemed to widened just a bit.

"I didn't say that anyone here was like that."

At this Gray let a full out smile grace his face, showing Lucy just how handsome he really was.

"Well will you?" he persisted.

"Um…

"Come on, just give me a chance."

Lucy stared at him for quite some time before answering,

"Alright, I-I'll be your friend."

"Cool!"

"Cool? Didn't know it was that…refreshing for me to be your friend." She playfully added.

Gray looked at her then. He realized that Lucy did have a sense of humour and was quite easy to talk to, for a girl. He absently smiled.

"Well "cool" is my middle name."

"Really?" She really didn't want to burst out laughing if what he actually said was true.

"Nah, but I think it would've suited me, don't you think."

At this Lucy did burst out laughing, even if it was just a quiet chuckle due to them being in an empty staircase, where sound could bounce off the walls like a pinball.

"Sure, um, I think we better get to class now, I don't want to get detention."

"You got a point, right then let's go." And with that they were off.

**XDXDX**

After school that day, during soccer training, Gray felt a lot lighter. He knew that he was still a part of the stupid bet he so irrationally agreed to, but after talking to Lucy in the morning, he didn't think it was going to be that hard after all being friends with her. Then he thought of how it was supposed to all end. He mentally cringed.

"Yo, Gray check it out, isn't that the Grimoirie Academy soccer team we're supposed to be facing on Friday?" Sting questioned.

Looking up, Gray was met with the sight of eleven boys casually walking up towards them. Luckily for them, Capricorn-sensei was taking a call in his office.

Soon, one of the boys came up to the front, coming to a stop right in front of Gray. Gray took one look at him and knew he wasn't going to like him one bit.

"What do you guys want?" he asked politely, yet his voice was strained.

"Hiya! We were in the neighbourhood and just thought we'd pop by to check out our competition for this Friday's game that's all, we're not here to cause any trouble so don't worry."

Looking at him, Gray gave a snort.

"Well you've had a look, so can you please leave, we're trying to practice here."

"Oh well then we'll be on our way." And soon was walking back the same way he came, the rest of his team following his lead. But then he turned back and once again addressed Gray.

"Hey!"

Gray turned back to the boy.

"I suggest you guys train your butts off, because we're not gonna go easy on ya." He said with a wink.

"And who said we were going to go easy on you?" Gray retorted back.

"Haha, you got spunk. Good, you gonna need it. Good Luck." And with that he and his team took off once again.

"What was that about?" Gajeel asked.

"Probably just wanted to sike us out before Friday's game. Don't let it get to you." Gray said reassuringly.

At this the rest of the team went back to their previous activities. Gray then looked back to the spot where the boy-who he assumed was the captain-stood. He seemed like a really weird fellow, but he wasn't going to let that get to him. And with that he returned to his training, but not before an image of Lucy flashed before his eyes.

"Huh?" Why was he suddenly thinking about Lucy? Maybe it was due to him previously thinking about her before their little meeting of the soccer united nations. Yeah that had to be it.

"Hehe still, I really hope she comes to the game, she did promise after all." And with that ran back to his team, not noticing a pair of eyes watching him closely.

**Hey Guys! Hope you liked it. Haha so finally Natsu has made his appearance and I gotta say, this story is getting twists and turns everywhere. Thanks again for reading and once again please please review. Your thoughts always give me new inspiration on what to include in the next chapter XD**

**Special thanks to: **

**Sabreena Guest: Thanks for the review! Haha well I can't say if he will or won't break her heart in the end, you'll have to find out in the end ;) **

**Guest: Thank you Guest! I hope you really enjoy this story :D**

**WhiteSkytherXx: Thanks for the review! :D Well Natsu finally made his grand, okay not that grand of an entrance but still, I hoped it was good for you guys, :D **

**Natpereira: Here we are! Hope this chapter put a smile on your face as it did mine :D**

**Rockin' angels: Ohoho don't worry I will ensure that they all drop to the ground, drooling like puppy dogs when they get a sight of her body XD, and thank you for the review, I totally am gonna put a scene like that in. **

**Amyskywalker: Thank you for your review! Haha I'm glad you liked my last chapter. Yeap, Natsu has finally appeared! XD haha and yes I did take that particular aspect from a walk to remember and put it into the story (meaning Lucy's condition). XD Great movie true, I don't own anything XD**

**YukkariFullbuster: Haha thank you so much for your review. Yep Natsu has finally made an appearance XD haha but please look forward to the next chapter, you'll get to see that he's not gonna just be a one-time show in this story ;) and yes, I may have changed Lucy's personality, but her body is still very much the same ;)**

**Le' CarolinnaZannej421: Thank you for your review. I know! I had to hit myself so many times for putting in that scene, but kept telling myself it'll be worth it in the end.:D**


	6. Chapter 6: Feelings

**Hey guys, here is chapter 6. Yay! WARNING! I have fit some Jerza moments in here, just because I love them so much! Rightyohdy! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thank you again for all of you who have been reading and reviewing, and answers to reviews like always are at the bottom :D. My heart swells with happiness every time from reading your reviews. Love you Guys! XD**

**Chapter 6: Feelings**

**[After school Thursday]**

Lucy was making her way out of school when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Oh, hello Gray. How was soccer practice?"

"Oh we just did a few rounds around the tract. Don't want to overdo it before tomorrow's game. You still coming?"

Lucy looked at Gray, who seemed to look at her with hope in his eyes, wishing she got the message of him wanting her there. At this Lucy smiled.

"Of course I'm coming! I promised you didn't I, and friends always keep promises right?"

Hearing this Gray's face immediately turned from a smile to a sad frown. Lucy, seeing this, quickly became worried.

"Hey, you okay? You don't look so good."

"Yeah I'm fine. Just…tired that's all."

"Oh that's good. I wouldn't want you to get sick before your game." She sighed in relief.

Gray looked at her with a sad smile. They had all the same classes before lunch, so he took the opportunity to get to know Lucy a bit better, starting off with the basics, like her hobbies, favourite colour, song, movie, etc.

He found that her favourite colour was sky blue, her favourite song being "Beneath Your Beautiful" by Labrinth feat. Emeli Sande, her favourite movie being A Walk to Remember **(OMG! Mine too!)**, and he also found out that she loved to read, especially romance novels, though she visibly blushed when she confessed that particular aspect of herself.

He laughed at this and in return told her a bit about himself as well. He told her how his favourite colour was navy blue, his favourite song being "Payphone" by Maroon 5 and his favourite movie being the Star Wars Films. As for his hobby, Lucy had correctly guessed that it was him playing soccer and he agreed to her not-so-surprisingly lucky guess.

Looking back at her, with a cheerful smile on her face, he couldn't help but hate himself a little more, which seemed to grow every single time he saw her. He had just befriended her a day before and had got to know her better in just the first half of the day, and yet, he felt so comfortable with her, despite her looks, that he was finding it hard every minute of the day to keep carrying on being her "_just a bet" _friend, as he put it, when he knew he would hurt her feelings in the end.

"_Friends always keep promises…_

Looking back at her face, Gray saw that she still had a smile on her face.

"_God! Her smile, those eyes,…those lips…._

At the last mental comment, Gray immediately let himself crash back down to planet earth.

"_No! No! No Fullbuster!...God, how am I supposed to do this?! I already can't focus during training without thinking about Lucy first, now this?! No, no, no, snap out of it Gray. You can't…you ca…_

"Gray?...

At the sound of her voice, Gray immediately snapped out of his inner conflict and again looked back to Lucy. She was even wearing the same kind of clothes she always wore, today being an oversized jumper and a long pale pink flare skirt. But after getting to know her, even if it was just hobbies and other stuff, he already started seeing her in a different light.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked, her voice now strained due to her now looking really worried for him.

"Yeah. Lucy, you don't have to worry so much about me, I'm not fragile. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself, so please stop worrying about something that's irrelevant!"

He didn't realize how he had unintentionally raised his voice until he saw her expression immediately change from that of mild worry to shock and fear.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive." She stuttered out. Gray immediately wanted to punch himself.

"I didn't mean it like that Lu….

"I gotta go. I'll see you. Bye" and with that was already walking away, down the front terrace stairs, leaving a gapping Gray staring after her.

"_God! What the fuck is wrong with me!..._

He was about to go after her when he saw her suddenly stop and bend over slightly. From the way she was standing, he saw that she had begun breathing really fast and began clutching her jumper where her chest was. He then saw her close her eyes before taking deep, steady breaths. He instantly felt something was wrong, but before he was about to make any move towards her, she was immediately surrounded by a group of girls.

"Hey, so we see you've been hanging around with Gray a lot. Ha! So what? You think just because you're new and fresh that he really wants to be friends with you? Haha, he's just being friends with you because he's polite and a good guy, or rather too good of a guy if you ask me." One of the girls said.

"Yeah, and plus, can I ask you a question? Why do you dress like that? Do you like looking like a hag?" another snickered out.

"I…. Lucy started.

"Oh My God! And what the hell is with those glasses? My grandmother wears glasses like those, and she still looks better than you!"

At this comment, all the girls burst out laughing, leaving Lucy trying her outmost best not to cry. That was when Gray had had enough.

"Hey!

At hearing his voice, the group of girls, and a few other people who were walking past had stopped and looked up to see him coming down the stairs, a blazing look in his eyes. When he reached them, he saw that Lucy was still looking down.

He then reached for Lucy and pulled her to him, who immediately buried herself into his chest, silently shaking, but still not letting go of her tears.

Seeing this, Gray raised his head and glared at all the girls that now had looks of surprise on their faces.

"Don't you people have better things to do instead of tormenting an innocent girl, like I don't know, getting fake nose or boob jobs?"

At this, all the girls immediately started covering up places on their bodies that-Gray guessed-were the places where they had a "job" done. He immediately pulled Lucy closer to him, now wrapping his arms around her, feeling her shake, but slowly seem to calm down.

"Gray-sama!" One of the girls whined out.

"What!" he barked out.

The girls all then took a step back before one spoke out,

"Why!? Why do you hang around with that!? I mean, look at her, she looks like a freaking granny! What's so special about a little tart like h…

At this, Gray immediately raised a hand and pulled the girl by the front of her top, bringing them face to face, not caring if he ripped her top right off.

"Take. That. Back!" he said menacingly. The girl's eyes widened from fear at what he might do if she made him any more angrier.

"I-I'm so-sorry I-I ta-take i-it ba-back." She stuttered out, clearly frightened.

Gray then let her go and without giving any of them a second glance, started walking away down the walkway with a silent, though still shaken up Lucy in his arms.

After walking some distance away, he finally stopped. Looking down, he saw that she still had her head buried in his chest. He tilted her face up towards his and saw that her eyes were swimming with unshed tears. He immediately felt himself feel as though someone had kicked a soccer ball right through his gut.

He then leaned towards Lucy, his arms still wrapped around her, and put his head on top of hers, his face in her hair, breathing in her womanly floral scent. Lucy gave an inaudible squeak before relaxing into his body even further, enjoying how his body seemed to accept hers.

"Don't listen to them Lucy. They have nothing better to do with their lives, so they live to torment others to make themselves feel better. Don't listen to their vicious words that hold no truth to them." He breathed into her hair.

At this, Lucy raised her head a little, looking up at Gray, the tears in her eyes slowly dissolving away. He then gently stroked her cheek before slightly pulling away, though still holding her in his arms.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to sound so…so…like an asshole." He finished.

Lucy gave a slight nod.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have kept pestering you about your mood. I can understand why you would be on edge. You have an important game tomorrow. I would be nervous too."

Gray wanted to say that he wasn't nervous, but thinking about it, he had to admit he did feel a little edgy about the following day, especially since that impromptu visit by the opposing team.

Before he could let her go though, Lucy whispered out,

"Thank you Gray. For saving me from those girls." At this she looked back up at him, now a small smile on her face.

Gray couldn't help but stare yet again into her eyes. Oh how he felt himself get lost in those bewitching eyes.

"_Lucy…._

"Well you better get home Gray. Tomorrow is a big day and you need all the rest you can get. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she carefully disengaged herself away from him, but still stood in front of him.

"Thank you again." and with that gave a low bow. Gray really couldn't help but admire her. She was so…he couldn't find the words to describe her. She didn't even seem angry at what those girls had done to her.

Getting up, Lucy once again gave a cheerful smile, which Gray found to be quite cute, though he knew that it held a little pain to it.

"I'll be leaving now, I wouldn't want to keep you from getting home any longer than I already have." She said with an almost regretful tone. Gray raised his eyebrows, watching her already turning around and began walking,

"Hey…

Looking back, Lucy saw Gray coming up towards her.

"Where do you live?"

"Um, Churchshire street, up Strawberry Lane, why?"

"Mind if I walk you? I live on Vanilla Street, so it's not that far."

"No! I mean I've wasted enough of your time and you need to go home and rest and…..

"Lucy, really I don't mind." At this Lucy stood silent for a moment, contemplating on what would be the best option to take. She then finally made up her mind.

"Gray, as much as that sounds really nice of you, I'm fine. And I know you're only doing this because of what happened right?" she raised her eyebrows, knowing that it was the real reason why.

"Don't worry, like I said, it doesn't bother me."

Gray wanted to argue. He wanted to say that wasn't only just because of that. He honestly wanted to tell her that he genuinely wanted to walk her home, and maybe on the way, get to know a little more about her. But he knew that just by looking at the way she still acted around him, that it was better to give her space and decided to let her have it her way, afraid that if he pushed her too far, she would just leave anyway.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Lucy then walked closer to him and took his hands in hers before saying,

"Thank you Gray, for everything, for saving me from those girls, for talking to me…for being my friend." At this Lucy then raised her hand to caress his cheek, running her thumb along his jaw before quickly pulling it back to her, and turned, walking down the path towards her house, leaving a solemn looking Gray standing there staring after her.

**XDXDX**

Upon reaching home, Gray immediately bound for his room before his mother call out to him.

"Gray? Is that you honey?" Coming out from the kitchen, Ur Fullbuster was wearing an apron around her signature tight black T-shirt and long pants, with a tea towel in one hand and a fry pan in the other. Gray looked very much like her. She had short, jet black hair that fell in waves around her head, lean sharp features, cream white skin, and a slim yet fit body figure.

"Hey mum."

"Hey honey. How was soccer training? You finished pretty early today." She smiled at her son.

"We just did a few rounds around the tract, that's all. Don't want to get tired out even before the game's started."

At this Ur smiled and gave Gray a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay then, you want a snack? Dinner won't be ready for another hour."

"Nah, I think I'll just go and take a nap for a bit."

"Okay baby, I'll call you when dinners ready. Oh! And Gray, Lyon just called. He's coming down for the week with Juvia. They'll be arriving sometime this weekend."

"Yeah ok. Thanks for the heads up mum." And with that Ur went back to drying her dishes while Gray continued to his room.

When he reached his room, he immediately started stripping, starting with his shirt, which revealed a well-toned and muscular chest and abdomen, where a well-kept six pack flexed as he moved his arms around. He soon stripped off his grey jean pants, revealing lean muscular thighs and legs, before putting on some training shorts. After this, he seemed to slump onto his bed, his body outstretched, with his right arm draped over his eyes.

As he removed his arm, he stared up to the ceiling, having one thought on his mind the whole time, from on the way home to when he lay on his bed just a few seconds ago.

"_Lucy…._

**XDXDX**

"Lucy! Levy! HELP ME!" screamed a frantic Erza.

"Erza!?...

"…What's wrong?"

Both girls had appeared in her doorway in a flash. It was then that they gapped at the sight before them.

There, standing in front of them, was Erza dressed in a fiery plum red sundress that ended just above the knee. It had a slight frill at the end of its skirt and had pearl-cream swirling patterns going up the side length of it. Her feet were adorned in red gladiator sandals and she had applied a slight blush to her cheeks as the only makeup she wore. As for her fiery red hair, it was simply left down, swaying as she turned around to face them from staring out her window.

Looking at both their shocked faces, her own face immediately faltered.

"I knew it! I can't do this! This was a very, very bad idea. God, why I listen to you two, I will never know."

Hearing this, they seemed to snap out of their initial shock and almost jumped on Erza.

"Oh. My. God! Erza you look amazing!" Levy squealed.

"Yeah you do." Lucy finished.

"You think so? I don't know, I mean what if he doesn't show up, what if he doesn't like me….

"Erza! Relax, his eyes will seriously pop out of his eye sockets when he sees you. Believe me, mine did." Levy smiled.

"Me too." Lucy confirmed.

"Thanks guys, he should be here any min….

'Ding! Dong!'

At this, all three girls started and soon ran to Erza's window, which was on top at an angle, giving the perfect view of the front door. There they saw a tall man standing, but could not see his face. Immediately, they all started scurrying down the stairs toward the door, with Erza in the rear.

"I can't do this." She stuttered.

"Yes you can!" encouraged Levy, and without notice, she flung the door open.

There standing in front of them was a tall, lean yet muscular young man with electric blue hair, dark brown eyes, and a peculiar tattoo on the right side of his face that ran from the top of his eyebrows to half way down his cheek. He had in his hands a bouquet of white roses, decorated with some pink lilies.

Seeing all three of them, he gave a warm smile, which seemed to make all three girls blush, Erza blushing the hardest.

"Hi! I'm Jellal. I'm here to pick up….

He soon set his eyes upon Erza and stopped mid-way through his sentence, his eyes widening and taking a huge gulp in his throat.

"…..Erza." He finally finished, yet seemed breathless when he said her name.

Erza took a step forward, and gave him a brilliant smile.

"Hi…" she breathed.

"Hi….." He breathed back.

They kept staring at each other like they were the only ones there when suddenly Levy cleared her throat, bringing both back to reality.

"Hi! I'm Levy. It's nice to meet you Jellal-san."

"Hi! Please, just Jellal." He smiled then turning back to Erza,

"Erza, you look…" he looked into her eyes then, "…..beautiful."

At this Erza smiled, "are those for me?" pointing to the flowers.

"Oh yeah, haha I saw them on my way here and I thought of you."

Levy smiled at this, seeing Erza's face suddenly flush. "Alright Erza, me and Lucy are going to be in my room, working on my next masterpiece."

"Masterpiece?" Jellal enquired, turning back to Levy.

"Levy's a writer, well trainee writer….

"But a writer none the less!" she finished, with a smile on her face.

"Well that is very impressive, I wish you all the luck." He said with a smile.

"Nice to see you again Jellal." Lucy then spoke up.

"Haha, nice to see you again too Lucy, I haven't seen you at the shelter for a while. Erza said you started at your new school. Congrats."

"Thanks!" Lucy gushed.

After they had exchanged a few more pleasantries, Jellal and Erza soon began getting ready to leave.

"Have fun you two." Lucy smiled.

"Though not too much fun Erza." Levy teased Erza, not letting Jellal hear her playful remark, which had made Erza shoot her a glare.

"Okay, I'll see you guys." And with a wave, they were off.

"He's totally fallen for her." Levy stated for-sure.

"Definitely." And with that, both girls bounced towards Levy's room.

**XDXDX**

After dinner at a local restaurant that Erza had suggested, the couple began making their way back home, taking a stroll through the park while on the way. The moon was in full glow, and they were walking by the pond when suddenly Erza walked a bit in front, twirling around, making her dress fly as she did.

Jellal smiled. Soon they had stopped by one corner of the pond, where a still-medium sized oak tree was growing. Erza was still facing the pond, when she turned around and gave Jellal another brilliant smile.

"I had such a good time tonight Jellal."

"Yeah, I did too." He said, though his voice seemed strained. Erza looked at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worry in her tone.

"Yeah I'm fine." He gave a wave with his hand.

"Oh…

"Jellal…

"Erza….

They had both said their names at the same time. They were staring at one another. Neither said anything before Erza spoke,

"Jellal, can I ask you a question?"

In answer, he nodded.

"Did you really have fun tonight? I mean Wakaba's is an old restaurant and all, but it's the only fancy place I've ever been to and…

Looking at how his face paled, Erza immediately felt sadness and worry wash over her.

"_He didn't like it…._

At this, she supressed the sudden urge to cry.

"I'm sorry."

Hearing this, Jellal looked up to see that she had turned her back to him, facing the pond.

"I'm sorry if the date wasn't what you expected, I'm sorry I wasn't what you expected." She continued with a crack in her voice.

That was when Jellal suddenly made his way toward her, turned her around and quickly, yet carefully, crashed his lips onto hers. He then pulled her towards the tree and pinned her there with his body, one arm holding her waist while the other had travelled up her neck to the back of her head, holding her head in place.

Erza's eyes had widened from the sudden shock, but soon closed them shout as she started to respond to the kiss, placing both arms around his neck, tilting her head so as for a better angle.

Jellal had then nipped her bottom lip, asking for permission to deepen the kiss, with Erza responding by opening her mouth, a moan escaping as she felt herself being lifted slightly off the ground.

When the two had to break apart due to the desperate need for air, Jellal rested his forehead against Erza's, staring deeply into her ember eyes, inhaling her breath like it was oxygen itself.

"You have _no_ idea how many times I've wanted to do that to you Erza scarlet." He rasped out.

Erza looked into his eyes and saw that they had darkened to almost a liquid black colour.

"Jellal." She breathed.

"Since the first time I saw you, I knew you were different. You were always smiling, helping and playing with the kids. The way the scent of your womanly body lingered in the air like a cloud, the way your hair blew in the wind…." At this he wove his hand through her long locks, the other hand still firmly around her waist.

"…it drove me crazy! _You _drive me crazy! And now you're asking me to forgive you for being the way you are? Like I would want you any other way." He finished, still staring at her.

Erza couldn't describe how happy she was at that exact moment. She then reached out her hand and gently stroked his cheek, where his tattoo covered his face.

"So you enjoyed our da…..

She didn't get to finish that sentence, for Jellal was suddenly kissing her again, though gentler this time.

"Yes, I enjoyed our date. I was just trying to see if I could control myself any longer from jumping on you." He finally admitted.

At this Erza smiled.

After that, they had continued on their way home, though still had each others arms around one another. Upon reaching home, they were greeted by a very happy, yet honestly-not surprised Levy and Lucy, who both had the '_I told you so' _expression plastered on their faces.

**XDXDX**

The next day at school, Lucy couldn't help but smile. She was so happy for Erza and Jellal. Erza had been in an even extra hurry to get to the shelter than she was most mornings.

"Hey Lucy!"

Turning, Lucy smiled as she saw Gray coming up towards her with a huge smile on his face. She couldn't help but feel butterflies inside her tummy.

"Hi! Ready for today's game?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm all pumped up." He said as his grin remained on his face.

"Haha well that's good."

"You're still coming right?"

"Gray-

"Yeah, yeah I know, sorry. Just wanted to make sure, you know."

"Don't worry I wouldn't miss it for the world."

At this Gray automatically took a step forward, reaching out for her when suddenly,

"Oi! Gray! Come on dude, we gotta a briefing remember? or do you want Capricorn-sensei to kick your ass?" shouted Sting.

Giving a signal that he'll be there in a minute, he turned back to find Lucy still looking up at him, her eyes shining really brightly.

"You seem happy today." He remarked.

"Yeah I am. Erza, one of my best friends, had her first date last night. She said it was like she felt what it was like to fly for the first time." She smiled, glancing at the sky while she said it.

"She said that she's in love." She finished.

Gray took a look at her and tried to read and interpret her face. She seemed so happy, yet there was something else underneath it, something more.

Lucy looked back up at him and smiled.

"How does she know that she's in love?" Gray asked, curious as to how a person can actually fall in love after just one date.

"Because…she said that her heart told her so." And at this she smiled even wider.

Gray smiled. Lucy Heartfilia had to be one of the most intriguing girls he had ever met. Before turning to leave, he decided to tease her a little and did what Lucy had never expected and pulled her rubber band off of her single braid. Lucy, quite shocked, gapped at him.

"Gray!?" she whined out.

"I wanted to see if you would look better if you let your hair down."

At this, her golden blonde hair began spilling out down her back, like waves washing over each other. Some strands were blown to the front of her face, framing her face like a golden frame. Her skin seemed to stand out even more, revealing just how creamy white it was. She looked up to see Gray looking down at her with a sort of smouldering look in his eyes.

He then walked up to her, standing just a touch away and gave her a look she could not read.

"I was wrong, you don't look better with your hair down." He said without any sort of emotion.

Lucy felt hurt when suddenly, to her utter shock, he bent his head towards her and whispered huskily into her ear.

"You're beautiful." He breathed, his voice shaking just a tad bit.

Moving back, he smirked at her and before she had time to respond, he was already running off to where his team were to have their pre-game briefing, leaving a very red and shocked Lucy behind.

She didn't even know how long she had been standing there till she heard the bell ring, signalling the start of class.

"Beautiful?" she whispered. Yesterday had been the first day someone other than family had called her 'pretty', and today Gray had called her 'beautiful'. At this she looked to the sky and smiled. "Thank you," and silently left for class.

**XDXDX**

"Yo, what's with the happy face? Something I should know about."

The Grimoire Academy soccer team had just finished their pre-game strategy discussion, with some members still chatting while on their way to the game's venue.

"Nah, it's nothing. Just…thinking." smiled the one who was being addressed.

"Oh well, must be a happy thought if it's got you smiling like a crazy person."

At this the young boy's smile grew even wider, then turning back to his team mate.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Huh?!"

"Haha nothing dude, let's go. We got some Mags that need a lesson in butt-kicking." And with that, he jogged off into the field that was to be used for the night's game.

**XDXDX**

**WaaHH! Another chapter down! Hope you guys like it! Please please please review :D**

**Wa! Gray is so….*melts***

**Special thanks to:**

**Mable (guest): Haha thank you and I hope this chapter made you grip your seat like I did to mine :D.**

**Guest: Thank you guest. I will try to update more quickly from now on.**

**GrayLu4ever: Thank you for your review! Haha hope you had fun in this chapter, I sure did ;)**

**Natpereira: Haha thank you for loving my chapters :D**

**Le' CarolinnaXannej421: OMG! Thank you for that piece of information! I immediately took note of the difference between the two "Onee/Onii-chans. Oh you saved me from future confusion and thank you so much Le' CarolinnaXannej421-san :D**

**Fairytailover416: haha stay tuned for the next chapter, where the mystery captain will be revealed! ;)**

**Amyskywalker: Haha, the story is just getting started. I have put soo many twists and turns in this story, I'm surprised I haven't gotten lost myself while writing it XD**

**YukkariFullbuster: Haha thank you for the compliment, I smiled so much at your review my jaw hurt hihi. Yep Natsu is lovable here XD**

**IloveCelestialIce: I know! I'm a big GrayLu fan as well XD, but I could not resist putting in that scene. I squealed so bad, urgh! I just want them both don't you? XD **

**ZeldaFan64: It is adorkable, but like all puppy love, love is always adorkable at first :D**

**SeeYouInLaLaLand: The Romeo scene was pure gut-feeling-writing. I just had to have him in the story, and I gotta agree with ya, he is so KAWAII!**

**Sabreena (guest): Yeah Natsu has made his grand entrance into the story and I hope you truly liked it :D as for school…..find out ;)**

**Rockin' angels: Haha thank you. Gray will just have to open his eyes a bit wider if he doesn't want to lose Lucy O_O**

**Ixburnout: Haha Natsu is dense, but I decided to tone down the densness in this story. But yes, the way he looked at Lucy by the pond, I always imagined that that would be the perfect look for saying "I will melt your heart one day, and you'll be mine" KYAA! *just melted* XD**


	7. Chapter 7: The Game

**Hey guys! Woohoo chapter 7. Okay WARNING! I totally fangirl squealed in this chapter, so I hope that...you do to! XD Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story. I love you all! 3 **

**Chapter 7: The Game**

Fiore national park was already jammed packed. Students from both Magnolia East High and Grimoire Academy, along with friends and family, were already spilling into the stadium in masses of different colours.

Magnolia East High supporters had come in their school colours of purple, while Grimoire Academy cheered on in their dark maroon mixed with black colours.

Down in the changing rooms, Gray, along with the rest of his team, were busy getting ready. Gray, while putting on his football boots, kept staring into space, trying to memorise the entire game plan. He was really feeling on edge now. He might have everybody convinced otherwise, but he had stopped lying to himself. He was nervous. No point lying.

Although all these passed through his mind, he still kept picturing a certain blonde haired girl, wondering if she would turn up just like she said.

**XDXDX**

"Lucy! Stop fidgeting with your skirt!" a visibly annoyed Levy said to a very uncomfortable looking Lucy.

"I can't help it! I've never worn a skirt before, let alone a **really short** one!"

Before arriving at the stadium, Levy had agreed to join Lucy to come watch the game with her. Erza had politely declined, her reason being that she wanted to spend more time with Jellal, which Lucy found really sweet. But now she was regretting ever inviting Levy along. It wasn't because she didn't want her there, but mostly because Levy had used the opportunity to play 'dress up' with Lucy.

Levy had positively jumped at the opportunity to dress Lucy up. Though Lucy was also excited, though not as excited as Levy was, they were both reminded that due to Lucy's condition, Erza had strictly stated that her clothes that were to be worn still had to be loose enough for Lucy to get out of in case of an emergency.

Levy, being the ingenious, creative, though crazy, mastermind she was, still was able to alter Lucy's wardrobe enough to make the clothes Lucy wore loose, but at the same time fashionable.

Lucy was made even more uncomfortable by the fact that Levy had simply pointed out that if she really wanted to know how she looked, she should just ask the numerous guys that were now gawking at her.

Lucy, at the thought of people gawking at her visibly cringed. She had told Levy that she could dress her up, but she insisted that she still look plain, as she wasn't much of a show off.

Plain, by far, was not the correct word to describe Lucy at this very point. Lucy was wearing an oversized navy blue jumper that reached all the way till the top of her hips, wearing it at an angle, exposing the whole half of her right shoulder, showing how smooth and soft her supple skin shone in the night, a short black flare skirt that ended at least an inch above the knee, and to top it off, her legs were left bare, the only thing cladding them being black ankle boots, which Erza had given to her to wear for the night. Lastly, her hair was done in a simple pony, with her fringe parted on either side of her face, which was devoid of makeup.

Levy, being quite pleased at her handy work, shoved Lucy to the front of her, which immediately made her enter the stadium. Her hands automatically went to her skirt, which Levy immediately smacked,

"Levy!" cried a shy Lucy.

"Lucy, honestly, you can't keep hiding away. You are so beautiful. You have one of the most beautiful bodies I have ever seen. I understand that you aren't allowed to wear tight clothes due to your condition, but imagine! All you're wearing is an old, oversized jumper and skirt, and already you got guys drooling over you." At this she pointed to one part of the stadium, where guys who had noticed Lucy enter, were giving her wolf whistles, while some were already knocked out due to the major loss of blood from the nose bleeding they had suffered just by looking at her long, slender, pale legs that were exposed from the thigh down.

"Levy, I feel really uncomfortable, I…..

"Lucy-nii?" squeaked a small voice.

Whirling around, Lucy soon forgot about what she was wearing when she soon came face to face with the young boy she had met at the park the other day after school, Romeo.

"Romeo!" she called out excitedly, quickly rushing to him.

Seeing her smile his way, he immediately bound towards her and upon reaching her, gave her a tight hug, which Lucy gladly returned.

"Hello Lucy." He smiled looking up at her.

"Hi Romeo," she smiled back.

Turning to a now grinning Levy, she introduced the two, who quickly got to know each other, smiling like the first time Lucy had met him.

Turning back to Romeo after a while, she smiled.

"Romeo, are you here to watch the game?" she smiled.

"Yep!"

By this time, Levy had excused herself to go and find some seats for her and Lucy.

"I'm here to support Onii-chan!"

"Huh? Onii-chan?" then realizing what he had just said, she was about to ask if he was referring to who she thought he was referring to, a smooth voice suddenly whispered through the air.

"Lucy?...

Turning around, Lucy found herself staring into the familiar deep onyx eyes that belonged to none other than Natsu Dragneel. She was momentarily immobile, for she found herself at a lost at what to do next.

Then snapping out of her revere, she then took in his whole form and gave a veryloud squeak, for standing in front of her was Natsu Dragneel…a very **shirtless** Natsu Dragneel.

Willing her eyes away from his well-toned, supple body, which showed a very prominent six pack, Lucy looked back up into his onyx eyes and found that they had darkened considerably since just a few seconds ago. She watched as his eyes raked over her like he was surveying her, trying to memorise every inch of her body.

When his eyes met with hers again, she managed to stifle a giggle and smiled up at him.

"Done with your scanning?" she mimicked his remark of how she had surveyed him last time they had met, receiving a handsome smile and a short laugh.

"Yeah I am!" his smile grew wider.

"Wow, it's great to see you again Lucy. I never expected to meet you here. You here to watch the game?" he asked, a hint of humour in his voice.

"Yeah, my school's playing."

"Wait, you go to Mag High?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yeah…" then realization hit her again.

"No way! You go to Grimoire Academy!? And you play for their soccer team?" now her eyes were really wide.

"Haha, even better." With this he walked closer to her until he was just a touch away and leaned forward, his head slightly away from her ear and breathed.

"I'm their striker."

At this Lucy visibly blushed and turned her head towards his, allowing their faces to be just inches away.

"So you're their ca-captian!?" she asked, though it was more of a statement.

"Ye_p_!" he popped the 'p' of his lips.

At this Lucy gave a gentle smile.

"Well lucky for me then." She smiled

"Oh, and why is that?" he genuinely asked, intrigued.

"I get to cheer for both teams now." And at this her smile grew wider, unintentionally making his grin grow as well.

**XDXDX**

The Magnolia East High team had just entered the stadium, finished with their last minute pre-game plan given to them by Capricorn-sensei.

Gray had walked up in the rear still trying to remember every single detail that had been pitched to them. He was still trying to remember his own play-maker role of striker that Capricorn-sensei had pitched to him, when he suddenly caught a glint of gold off the corner of his left eye.

Turning in the direction of the glint, Gray had to stop himself from opening his mouth like an idiot trying to catch flies, for his eyes had landed on the blonde he had been thinking about only just a few minutes ago.

Lucy Heartfilia was simply gorgeous, there was no other word to describe her at this point in time. He noted how she was wearing a simple oversized jumper and short skirt, but as soon as he had laid his eyes on her long slender legs, his imagination went into overdrive, creating an unexpected moan to escape from his mouth.

He noted how she had swept her hair up into a simple pony tail, but the most surprising thing that he noted about her was the fact that she was not wearing her signature spectacle glasses. He deduced that she must have been wearing eye contacts.

He had been about to make his way over to her when all of a sudden, another young boy, a very shirtless boy with pink hair and latte tan skin had made his way towards her and, to Gray's sudden surge of annoyance, starting chatting to her. He was even more surprised that Lucy was actually chatting back as if she knew the guy. While they were conversing about whatever they were conversing about, Gray noticed that Lucy had smiled and giggled at least five times, her cheeks creating a cute blush on her face.

He immediately clenched his fist tightly, glaring daggers at the pink haired boy, who had suddenly leaned into Lucy and whispered something into her ear, making her blush as red as a tomato. The guy had gotten on his nerves since the day he showed his face at their soccer practice, checking out the competition, and now, he nerves felt like they were about to implode on themselves.

"Hey dude you ready?" Sting had made his way to Gray who, still watching the exchange that was taking place, hadn't seemed to notice his presence.

"Yo? Gray? What are you….whoa!" tracing Gray's gaze to where he was staring to, Sting's eyes had widened just as Gray's did from the view of Lucy he had just seen.

"Dang! Shit who is that hottie? Does she go to Mag high? Or do you think she goes to Grimoire?" Sting asked, stilling looking at Lucy, now with a slight drool accumulating at the corner of his mouth.

"That's Lucy."Gray simply replied, still looking at how the pink haired bastard was making Lucy laugh, her smile making Gray try with all his might not to go over there then and pull her into his arms.

"_Wait…what?"_ shaking his head, he returned his focus to the two, his glare becoming very visible now.

"Whoa, what? Lucy? As in Lucy Heartfilia?...granny?" now Sting turned to Gray, his eyes seemingly bugling from their eyes sockets.

"Yes. Lucy Heartfilia." And with that set off down the ground, towards where the two were, leaving a still gapping Sting Eucliffe behind.

**XDXDX**

Lucy had still been talking to Natsu, who had now moved closer to her, leaning into her now and again, when, looking past his shoulder, she gave a loud squeak, for now making his way towards them was Gray. Automatically, she moved away, which caused Natsu to straighten up and follow her gaze to Gray, who was giving him a death glare. He smiled. "This should be fun."

When he had reached them, he immediately made his way in front of Lucy, pushing past Natsu, and gave her a tight hug, his hands around her waist, his head in her hair, inhaling her intoxicating floral scent.

After some time, Gray released Lucy, though still stood in front of her, and gave her a smile.

"You came." He breathed, relieved that she did.

"Of course I did. I promised you didn't I?" she replied sweetly. She was now smiling up at Gray, who upon further inspection of her face, noticed that she wore no makeup at all, which showed just how flawless her skin truly was.

He smiled and placed a hand against her cheek, stroking her cheekbones with his fingers, making Lucy shiver. At this, he smiled even more, loving the fact that he could make her shiver like that.

Suddenly, a snort was heard behind him, and upon turning, was faced with a smirking Natsu, who had folded his arms into his chest, watching with interest at the exchange that took place between Lucy and him. Gray immediately gave the pink haired striker his deadliest glare, which only made the opposing striker smile wider.

"Nice to see _you_ again." Natsu smirked.

"I wish I could say the same to you, but I really can't see myself doing that." Gray glared back.

"How do you know Lucy?" Gray asked, automatically backing away, with Lucy behind him, holding onto his arm, watching the confrontation with curious eyes.

"Why don't I let Lucy take this one." Natsu smiled to Lucy through the top of Gray's shoulder.

Looking back to Lucy, Gray listened carefully as she started to explain how she had met the boy standing before them.

"Natsu saved me from falling into the pond after school on Tuesday. He was really nice and cheered me up from me being upset earlier." She said, looking up to Gray, noting that when she had said the word 'saved', Gray had immediately paled, though received a smile from Natsu.

Turning back to Natsu, Gray gave him a strained look.

"So, a striker and a saviour? Quite the ladies man aren't we" he spoke out.

At this Natsu laughed and cocked his head to the side, looking at Lucy as he gave his reply.

"Nah dude, not a ladies man. Just one lady's man." And with that flashed a handsome grin to Lucy, who again blushed to the colour of a tomato.

Seeing this, Gray gritted his teeth and gave Natsu a once over before replying.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked, staring, though not really caring, at how the boy standing in front of them was shirtless despite the chill in the air. At this Natsu looked down, looked back to Gray and then looked to Lucy. He smiled.

"Not really. I've got an irregular body temperature, so I don't feel the cold that easily," now facing Lucy, "If you are cold later on let me know Lucy, like I said, I would save you any time you wanted me too." And with that, sent a wink Lucy's way and a sly smirk to Gray's, before suddenly turning, running in the direction of his team.

Gray then turned back to Lucy, taking her in once again, honestly shocked that, even though she was wearing a loose top which covered most of her body, she looked so different. He brought his eyes back up to hers and locked them there.

Lucy was also locked staring into Gray's deep navy blues that her breathing became slow and deep. Without knowing, and not giving a fucks care to what he was doing, Gray had placed both hands onto her flushed cheeks and leaned in close, his face a breath away from her.

"You look so beautiful Lucy." He said, without losing eye contact from her.

Lucy gave a heavy gulp and stared back into his eyes, trying to find words, but none coming out.

"Thank you," she managed to breathe out, her mind not being able to process any other answer.

Smiling, Gray pulled back and began conversing with her on how she was feeling, this being her first time to watch a live soccer match, let alone being in a stadium, when a loud horn was blown, signalling the start of the presentation of teams.

Hearing this, Gray looked back to find Lucy looking up at the clear sky, showing off tiny stars, though blurred due to the heavy head lights at the top of the stadium.

"Hey." He reached for her hands.

"After the game, you want to grab a bite to eat." Gray offered.

Lucy watched as he shifted from side to side, clearly finding it hard to look her straight in the eye as he asked. She then gave an angelic smile, which caught Gray by surprise, swallowing the sudden lump that had developed in his throat.

"Sure, I'd like that." And with that she moved towards him and gave him a tight hug.

"All the best Gray. I know you'll do amazing." She looked up into his eyes as she said it.

Gray, staring down at her, had to use all his strength and more to supress the sudden, shocking urge to crush his lips against hers, for hers were slightly parted and fuller then usual due to the chill of the air. Hugging her back, his head on hers, he closed his eyes.

"Thank you." And with that released her, gave her one last look that read, _'wish me luck'_ before joining the rest of his team on the field.

Seeing this, Lucy then noticed the Grimoire Academy team begin to position themselves on the field, when Natsu shared with her a glance that read the same as Grays just moments ago. She smiled back and began moving up to the stands, easily finding Levy and took her seat, her eyes returning to both teams.

"Oh boy" and with that started clapping along with the rest of the other spectators.

**XDXDX**

The game was well underway when the half time bell was sounded, allowing both teams to hurdle around each other, discussing game plans. Right now, Magnolia East High and Grimoire Academy were at a tie, 2:2, thus allowing the game to become even more intense as the minutes and seconds ticked by.

After listening to their game plan, Gray looked up to see Natsu on the far side of the field, looking up to the stands, a wide grin plastered on his face. Following his point of view, he found that he had been staring at Lucy, smiling, who smiled back, giving a small wave to him. He then saw how Natsu waved back and, to his utter horror and amazement, saw how he blew Lucy a butterfly kiss, which she didn't seem to know what it was and just smiled back at him.

Gray's temper began to rise at this. This was not happening.

"Well, someone seems to have gotten close to a particular blonde," came a sly voice from behind him. Looking back, Gray saw that Midnight had given him a sly smile before walking away. He clenched his fist, gritted his teeth and began digging the heel of the spiked runners into the ground giving off a low growl at the scene in front of him.

"_I so want to pummel him right now!"_ he thought. But just as he was about to move towards him, the whistle blew, signalling the start of the second half.

Looking back to Natsu, he saw how he now gave a small wave, but with a different look on his face. He was smiling, yet the way his eyes passed over Lucy made Gray feel really uncomfortable. It was a look that Gray had tried himself so hard to avoid for the past couple of days.

**XDXDX**

"Gray! Go! Go!."

"Come on Fullbuster, goal the bloody ball!"

Everyone in the stadium had begun shouting at the top of their lungs at Gray, who currently had the ball and was on his way to goaling it. As he was about to pass through yet another opposing team member, Natsu seemed to pop out of nowhere and was now cornering Gray.

"Haha, you got spunk Fullbuster," laughed Natsu.

"Shut up! And focus on the game!" Gray shouted back.

Then with much effort, he did a round kick and made the ball fly through the air past the goal keeper and hit the net, which stretched far back due to the balls impact.

"Score! Magnolia High now leads the game with 3-2," shouted the commentator.

After, while the teams were taking a 4 minute break, Gray made his way up to Natsu, who again seemed to be staring at the stands.

"If you'd keep your head in the game, maybe you could have blocked that goal." He said upon reaching Natsu.

"Yeah I know, but…I can't stop looking at her." Natsu replied simply still looking at Lucy.

"I mean look at her! She's so beautiful. The first time I saw her, I thought I saw an angel, and now…."he trailed off.

Gray was now fuming.

"Then stop looking at her!" he screamed.

"Why? Is she your girlfriend, and don't lie to me Fullbuster, I've heard about your reputation."

"Well…not really."

"There is no such word as 'not really', you either like her or you don't. Telling a girl that you _may_ have feelings for her is just down right selfish." Natsu said with confidence.

Gray watched him with guarded eyes. Sure, he saw Lucy as a friend, but looking up to her, seeing her enjoying herself with her companion, he couldn't help but feel Natsu's words hit him like a brick to the face.

When the game had resumed, Natsu had seemed to get more into the game. As the game was nearly at its end, Natsu had gotten possession of the ball. Running with the ball, he swivelled through opposing team players, twirling the ball with his feet as he did so.

Reaching close to the goal, he saw Gray, who was on the far side of the field, and gave him a smirk and suddenly rammed the ball, sending it flying through the air towards the goal so fast, it looked like it had caught on fire. Hitting the goal, another whistle was blown signalling another score, which was soon followed by a louder horn that blew, signalling the end of the game.

"And that is the end of tonight's match between Magnolia East High School and Grimoirie Academy. The score stands at three-all. Congratulations to both teams on a job well done, and we will see them both next week for the tie breaker event to determine who qualifies for the semi-finals. Goodnight and be safe." The announcer ended his commentary.

At this both teams came to congratulate each other, with Gray and Natsu being the last to shake hands.

"Nice kick." Gray commented.

"Thanks. Couldn't let you show off all by yourself." At this Gray gave Natsu a glare, at the same time his hand added pressure to their handshake, which Natsu seemed to enjoy adding pressure back.

"Gray! Natsu!"

Looking to the side, they saw Lucy running towards them, a huge smile on her face.

"Wow! You guys were amazing!"

At this they both smiled, both releasing their hands from each other, seemingly forgetting about their little rivalry almost on the spot.

"Natsu-nii!" came another voice, yet sounded younger and a bit squeaky.

Following Lucy had been Romeo, who, when catching up to Lucy, latched himself onto her. Gray seemed to smile at this, though he deduced that the child most likely was Natsu's younger brother. Turning, he saw Natsu grinning like an idiot.

When she reached them, Lucy gave both boys handshakes and introduced them to Levy who had been trailing far behind her, busy studying the layout of the entire ground, muttering to herself how she could use it for a scene in her new story. Both girls then smiled.

Levy, already being told by Lucy that Gray was going to take her out for a bite to eat, soon said her goodbyes. Gray had tried to persuade her to join them but she insisted she get home to write down all the ideas she had in her mind before they disappeared. With a wave and a smile to Lucy, she then began making her way home, telling Lucy that she'd take a cab as it was faster, though Lucy knew that she was just being impatient to get home and begin work on her next book.

Soon though, Romeo gave a huge yawn, which made all three teenagers smile.

"You tired buddy?" Natsu asked.

"No, I'm not!" he said, though another yawn soon escaped from his mouth.

Again this made the teenagers smile.

"Alright then," turning to Lucy, "I think I better get this one home before he falls on his feet," and with that picked up the young boy, who immediately gave into his sleep and hugged Natsu around his shoulders. At this, Lucy smiled and made her way up to them. She then placed a soft kiss on Romeos cheek which didn't seem to stir him at all. Gray merely looked at the scene with guarded eyes.

Turning Natsu looked back to Lucy.

"I'll see you around Lucy. It was nice seeing you again." and with that gave her one of his goofy smiles, which made her giggle.

"And since I know where you school now I know where to find you. Who knows, you may be seeing a lot of me from now on." And with that gave her a wink and a smile. Then, turning to Gray.

"Good game Fullbuster. Can't wait for next week."

"Likewise." Replied a stoic Gray and soon Natsu and Romeo were making their way towards the entry gates, disappearing when turning to the exit. This left only Lucy and Gray.

"Don't you have to change Gray?" Lucy asked, seeing as he was still wearing his soccer uniform. Looking down Gray then turned back to Lucy.

"Yeah I think you're right, wait here while I go have a quick change?"

"Yeah sure." And with that he quickly ran off to the changing rooms.

**XDXDX**

On the way home, they had stopped by at McDonalds and got a bite to eat, with Lucy telling Gray how impressed she was of how he played so well, with him smiling and laughing at how she described all she saw.

On the way home, they walked through the park, with Gray insisting this time that he walk her home as it was really late and he wanted to see her safely home. The moon now was crescent shaped and shined crystal blue, though a bit dimly due to a few stray clouds lingering in the night sky.

While walking, Lucy and Gray had absentmindedly began walking closer together. Lucy started rubbing her arms lightly, which caught Gray' eye. He then pulled her closer to him and held her by her shoulders, hoping to warm her up. Lucy, at the action, quickly became flustered and yet, felt herself warm up and slowly start to relax.

In a few minutes, they had reached her house, with Gray's arm still around her with Lucy now leaning against him a bit. When they had reached the gate, Gray pulled away for Lucy to open the gate, when she had she turned back to him and offered to let him in.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked

As much as he really did want to, he decided against it, for he was sure that if he did, he may not want to leave, even if there were other people in the house.

"It's okay, maybe next time, I gotta get home as well. My mum would worry and I think my brother and his wife may have already arrived from their trip." He said with a smile, though it looked a little forced.

"Oh, okay."

There was silence after that, neither knowing what to do next, or who should be the first to break it. It was Gray in the end.

"Lucy, um…..

At this Lucy, looked up, a curious expression on her face.

"I'm really glad you enjoyed yourself tonight." He said with a low, though happy voice.

"Yeah, I did. Thank you for inviting me, oh and Levy."

At that very moment they heard a loud shout .

"Yes! I got it! Haha beware Dan Brown, Levy McGarden is sooo gonna surpass you! Just wait! This book is gonna kick ASS!" Levy seemed to scream the last part really loudly from her room.

Lucy and Gray laughed at her antics. Soon they returned to being silent, yet were looking intently into each others eyes.

Gray then took a surprisingly close step to Lucy, now really close to her so that that their bodies were almost touching. Lifting her chin up, Gray stared into her eyes. He had been dreaming of her eyes from the first day he had looked into them. He found them so beautiful, he couldn't believe that someone could have eyes like hers, deep chocolate brown, flecked with gold in the irises.

Lucy had also seemed to have lost herself in Gray's deep navy blue eyes. She found them so mysterious, and yet they seemed to be full of yearning for something, what she did not know.

After what felt like hours, but were only mere seconds, Gray spoke.

"Lucy….." his voice was low.

"Yes….." Lucy breathed back, still staring up at him.

"I…I…" now he was leaning closer to her, his breath washing over her face, making Lucy swoon and her legs slowly lose the feeling in them.

Lucy saw the intention in his eyes and slowly began closing her eyes, seeing that Gray was doing the same. Gray at this very moment had lost all rational thinking. The only thing that was on his mind at this very moment was Lucy. Staring into her eyes, seeing that she had caught onto his intention, he himself starting closing his eyes and edged closer until his lips hovered just a breath away from her luscious pink ones.

They were about to close the gap between them, when suddenly,

"LUCY! IS THAT YOU! I HEARD YOU TALKING FROM UPSTAIRS, WAIT TILL YOU GET A LOAD OF MY NEW ST...WAHH! Levy had banged the door open to find Lucy and Gray just a few moments away from almost sharing a kiss.

Hearing the door open, both teens immediately sprung apart, eyes wide, a deep blush covering their faces. Lucy was breathing really deeply now, her eyes wide, a hand to her mouth. She looked to Levy, who had a shocked expression on her face, which quickly turned into one of regret.

"Lucy…I'm so sorry." Levy said as she began making her way in if not for the fact that Lucy had suddenly begun breathing rather deeply, taking in irregular deep breaths.

Gray saw how her eyes widened and looked back to Lucy, who was now clutching her chest. He found his feet moving faster than his mind seemed to and made his way to her in one quick stride.

"Lucy!? Lucy, are you okay?" he said, worry laced in his voice.

She gave a quick nod, before bounding for the house without another word to him, Levy coming down to help her into the house. Gray had been about to follow them in when Levy had soon blocked his path.

"I'm really, really, REALLY sorry Gray for ruining that moment for you and Lucy, but I think it would be better if you leave now. Don't worry about Lucy. She'll be fine, I'll see to her."

"What's wrong with her?" he asked, his voice still soaked in worry.

"Probably just a tummy ache." Levy gave an unconvincing smile. Gray was just about to argue, when a now settled Lucy came back into view, her breathing back to normal.

"Gray, it's okay, I'll be fine. I think you should go now. Thank you again for dropping me off." She smiled.

Gray saw that she had gone extremely pale and her once pink lips were now almost the same colour as her skin.

"Lucy….

"I'll see you at school Gray. Goodnight." And with that shut the door, leaving a very sad looking Gray standing there, feeling numb all over.

After a few moments, he began walking down the path. When reaching the gate, he cast a last glance towards the house. About to turn back he noticed a flash of blonde coming from one of the bottom windows, before he saw the curtain being quickly jerked back into place. He looked at the window for a few minutes before turning back to the gate, and let himself out.

As he then began making his way back home, Gray had only one thought that plagued his mind. The thought that he, as of tonight, totally accepted and stopped trying to fight. The thought that he had actually had to admit to himself was always there since the first time he had seen Lucy Heartfilia.

He finally admitted it when he stopped in the middle of his walking and stared up to the luminous crescent moon that shone high above in the sky.

"I've fallen in love with Lucy Heartfilia." And with that gave a triumphant smile, like the whole world suddenly seemed to be brighter than usual, even if it was night at that very moment.

**Waah! Finally done! Gray and Natsu….*melts***

**Please review review review! I love you guys! **


	8. Chapter 8: Looking

**Hey Guys! Firstly, I am SO SORRY for putting this chapter up late. Gomenasai! Secondly, BEWARE! There is a lot of fluff in here, but it's innocent fluff, but still I squealed like CRAZY! Lucy and Gray…*Melts***

**Hope you guys enjoy and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! YOU PEOPLE ARE MY INSPIRATION! I LOVE YOU! 3**

**Chapter 8: Looking**

**[Monday]**

"Yo, dude!...Gray?"

Gray turned to find Gajeel, Loke, Sting, Elfman and Rufus standing behind him while he stood by the corridor window that over looked the courtyard where the birch trees grew, hoping to see if Lucy was there. She wasn't.

"Yeah?"

Turning, he smiled at his friends, though there was a hint of sadness to it.

Looking at where Gray had been looking, all boys figured out that he must have been looking to see if Lucy was there.

"You looking for blondie?" Sting smirked.

"Her name is Lucy."

Gray turned back to his friends.

"She's absent today."

"Then why are you still looking out at the grove when you already know that she won't be there?" Loke asked.

"I don't know, just force of habit I guess." He genuinely answered.

"Dude, sooo…what happened after the game on Friday? We didn't see you at Wakaba's."

Remembering that he had missed their traditional after-game-meet-up at Wakaba's, he smiled. Walking Lucy home had been worth it. He smiled at the memory of how he had placed his arms around her and how she had relaxed her body into his, making him feel warm inside.

"I went home early. Sorry guys."

Turning back to look out at the grove, he couldn't help but recall that night. He had been dreaming about that night the entire weekend. He couldn't get the image of Lucy out of his mind. He remembered the way her hair shone under the crescent moonlight, the way her hands seemed to fit so perfectly in his, her face flushed and showed off absolutely flawless skin. He remembered how his lips almost touched hers, the way her breath lingered in the air, mixed with his. He even dreamed about actually kissing her if Levy hadn't intervened.

He had been planning to go back to her house the next day to check up on her, but couldn't due to the fact that his older brother and his wife, Lyon and Juvia, arrived the next morning, thus Gray being told by his mother to stay back to help with the unpacking and rearranging of the house. It took the whole day, thus feeling exhausted, Gray fell into such a deep sleep that he actually woke up the next day in the afternoon.

"Well I'm sure we'll see her tomorrow. Come on lets go, class remember."Gajeel said, and with that they all set off, with Gray lingering just a bit before following them.

"_I hope she comes tomorrow."_ And soon began making his way to class.

**XDXDX**

The next day, Gray arrived extremely early to school. For some reason he wanted to arrive before everyone else did, not feeling in the mood to be around the noisy hallway clogged with lusty eyed girls who practically threw themselves at him. Though he always ignored this, he smiled at the fact that now he finally had a real reason as to why he could ignore them.

It was still forty-five minutes till school started so there was no one in the hallway except for the janitor who Gray greeted with a smile and wished him a happy day.

Walking past the corridor that over looked the grove, he absentmindedly turned his eyes to 'Lucy's tree' as he named it, it becoming a habit even if he already knew that she wouldn't be there.

As soon as his eyes fell on the tree, they widened to the point that they began to water from being stretched too far open. For sitting under the tree, was Lucy.

Gray had to literally smack himself while rubbing his eyes to make sure that he wasn't daydreaming or hallucinating. After smacking himself and rubbing his eyes, he finally looked up to check if she was still there. And she was. He then immediately started running out of the building towards the grove, feeling his insides warm up to the point where he began to smile as he ran.

When he finally reached the grove he immediately made his way up to Lucy, not in the least out of breath, this being due to him being extremely fit. When he had reached where Lucy was sitting, he noticed that she had her eyes closed, her hands placed on her lap. She was sitting with her knees pointing out, her legs tucked under her, with her leaning against the tree.

Moving closer, Gray kneeled down and saw that she had a small smile on her face as she took deep, steady breathes. _"She's sleeping"._ He then took her whole form in. She was wearing a light cream blouse, whose sleeves ended at her elbows and a pale pink flare skirt. Her hair was done in a simple loose plait and, looking down to her feet, he saw that she wore simple sandals, and again she wasn't wearing her glasses. Overall, she looked so plain, yet to Gray, she was anything but.

Suddenly stirring, Gray began to panic, afraid that he might have done something to wake her, but she didn't. Instead, she seemed to move further against the tree pulling her legs towards her. This in turn allowed her skirt to ride up her long legs, ending just before the knee. Looking at her exposed legs, Gray had to turn his face away, his hand to his mouth to stifle a groan that was about to escape.

Suddenly, he heard Lucy mumble something and turned back. She seemed to be mumbling in hers sleep, which Gray found so cute. The next words that left her mouth then shocked Gray so much that he swore he stopped breathing.

"Gray…"

Lucy seemed to smile as she said it. Gray, emotionless for a few seconds, finally moved closer to her. He then sat beside her, leaning against the tree and carefully shifted Lucy towards him, with Lucy automatically leaning into him, snuggling up to his warmth.

After adjusting himself and Lucy, he finally looked down at her, finding her leaning her head against his chest, with her hands on his chest under her head and her legs curled up to his. He smiled. He had never seen anyone look so peaceful as Lucy did right now. He looked at her face, how her pretty pink lips were slightly parted, air escaping and entering in wisps.

He then looked at her hands and brought his hands to hers, clasping them, his fingers fitting in between hers, feeling like they were a puzzle that were meant to fit so perfectly together. Looking back at her, he couldn't help but stare. She was so beautiful. Her plainness just seemed to add selflessness to the list of admiring qualities that she possessed.

After a few minutes, Lucy began to stir. Waking up fully, she noticed that she was leaning against something soft and moving. Panicking, she looked down to her hands, seeing that they were clasped in a tight embrace, her fingers dancing with another person's. At a closer look at the hands that were holding hers, she slowly started to relaxed, for she knew only one person with such big, yet soft hands.

Looking up, Lucy found herself staring right into the eyes of Gray Fullbuster, who was staring intently back at her, a soft smile on his face. At this, she smiled back, gripping their intertwined hands tighter.

"Hey…." He breathed out.

"Hey…" She breathed back.

They kept staring at each other, feeling that there was nothing else to perfect the moment.

"Enjoyed your nap." Gray asked with a handsome smile gracing his equally handsome face, making Lucy blush.

"Yeah, I had a really comfy pillow." She smiled brighter as she said it.

He smiled and suddenly pulled Lucy to him, with her now completely against him, her upper body cradled in his arms, with his arms around her, his head on hers and her legs entwining themselves with Grays.

"What are you doing in school so early?" she turned to look up at him.

"Thought I'd just come early today. What are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to sit here for a while. It's beautiful in the morning."

At this both teens looked back at each other and stayed like that for a long time. Slowly Lucy raised her hand to cup Grays cheek, moving her thumb along the bottom of his jaw. Gray in turn raised his own hand and placed it over hers, all the while still staring down at her.

After a while, Lucy finally spoke.

"Gray…

Hearing this Gray looked down to find Lucy looking up at the sky. Her eyes were glazed.

"I'm so sorry about Friday. I was so rude to you and….

"It's okay. I'm just glad that you're okay now…you are, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. It was just a little tummy ache that's all."

"Good, cause I was worried like crazy about you." He gave off a shaky sigh.

"You were?"

Lucy's hand that was still on his cheek began to add more pressure with Gray squeezing it tightly.

"Yeah….." he breathed out.

After that they slipped into a comfortable silence, with them just holding on to each other, looking up at the sky. Gray had pulled Lucy into him more, with her now sitting in between him, resting her head on his shoulders. Gray had brought his hands around her sides and held onto her with Lucy bringing her hands to hold onto his. Gray then rested his head on her shoulder, running his lips along them. After a while, he kissed her shoulder, making Lucy let out a tiny squeak and jump a little.

"Sorry…." Gray whispered into her ear.

Lucy turned her head to face him and looked into his eyes and smiled.

"It's okay.

Gray then brought his hand to cup her cheek.

"Lucy…

"Yeah…

"You know I like you right...as in more than a friend?" At this Lucy looked up to see Gray flustered, trying to look anywhere but at her. She smiled and placed her hand back on his cheek.

"I know…I - I like you too." And with that gave Gray another kiss on the cheek.

At that moment, the school bell rang, with both teens realizing just how much time they had actually spent in the grove in each other's arms. Looking back at each other, they smiled. They knew that it wasn't surprising that they didn't notice just how fast time flew by. All they knew was that they were together and for them, that was when time stopped.

"I think we should head back now." Lucy made her way to get up. Gray soon followed and they both started making their way to class, holding hands, looking at each other every now and then, a smile always on their faces.

**XDXDX**

During the rest of the day, Gray spent most of his time with Lucy, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the school. He had spent most of his classes that he had with her sitting beside her and even walked her to her classes that he didn't have with her.

He would leave her at the door, but not without giving her a kiss on either her head or on her cheek, which made her blush every single time.

Dropping her off at her last class before lunch, Lucy was about to say goodbye to Gray before he pulled her to him, his hands on either sides of her hips, holding her to him. Lucy stared up at Gray, who was smiling down at her.

"Gray, if you don't hurry, you'll be late for _your_ class."

At this Gray pulled her closer and brought his forehead to rest on hers.

"Okay, I just wanted to wish you a happy…class?" he said grinning, unsure if what he said made any sense.

Looking up, Lucy caressed his cheek for what felt like the hundredth time that day, well half the day.

"You've been wishing me happy class since first period."

"I know."

"Aren't you tired?"

Gray looked into her eyes and pulled her even closer to him, her upper body now pressed against his.

"I'll never get tired of wishing you a happy class, a happy day, whatever, because I know that in about…"

Looking at his watch

"…35 minutes, I'll get to see you again."

At this Lucy smiled and placed both hands on his cheeks, their foreheads still touching.

"Mr Fullbuster." Looking into the classroom, Gray noticed Kagura-sensei glare at him.

"Can I have Miss Heartfilia back, or do you wish to teach her about the difference between light and dark in accordance to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?"

At this Gray quickly nodded and leaned down to kiss Lucy's cheek, after which he leaned in closer to her ear.

"She's always hated me." He whispered huskily to her.

At this Lucy laughed before tiptoeing and placing a kiss on Grays cheek and whispered back.

"But I like you." And with that ran into class, leaving Gray staring after her, a smile on his handsome face. Looking down at his watch, he remembered which class he had next and let out a long groan.

"Great, chemistry with Gildharts-sensei. Help me" before setting off down the hall.

**XDXDX**

When the lunch bell had rang, Gray was again the first out of class and quickly started making his way down the hall towards the courtyard to the grove.

"Yo!"

Looking back, he saw Sting, Gajeel and Loke following him.

"Hey"

"Hey, so where are _you _of to?"

"I'm off to lunch…

"With Lucy." Loke snickered. At this Gajeel smiled.

"So you've finally fallen for her?" Gajeel asked, though it came out as a statement.

Gray remained silent for a while before a crooked smile crossed his face.

"Yeah I have." He said it with so much confidence, that Loke was now fully smiling.

After a while Sting spoke.

"Dude, when are you going to tell her about the bet?"

Gray looked to see Sting with a serious expression on his face. He really hadn't thought about it at all, and now that Sting had brought it up, he was at a loss for words. Finally he spoke.

"I won't."

At this all three boys looked shocked, Sting the most. Seeing that they had misinterpreted his answer, he explained what he meant.

"I mean I'm not going to tell her because I'm not doing it anymore."

Now all boys were really shocked.

"Not doing it anymore? You mean you're backing out?" Loke asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, I am."

"Dude…

"What!?" Gray was now getting angry.

"Gray…" Gray turned to find Gajeel and Sting looking at him with worried expressions on their faces.

"We're just worried. You made that bet against Midnight and Racer. You know they won't let this slide without humiliating you."

"Yeah I know, but you know what…

At this he looked out the window, which the boys followed and looked out to see Lucy sitting under her favourite tree, with her knees up and leaning against the tree looking up to the sky. He finally turned back to see all three boys looking out to her before turning back to face him.

"…I don't care. If getting humiliated in front of the whole school means that I get to keep Lucy, then so be it." Turning back, he looked at her once more, smiling as she closed her eyes and take deep breaths of fresh air.

"Do you love her?" Gajeel asked.

Turning back again to the boys, he gave them an honest smile before turning and walking back down the hall, exiting the building and walking in the direction of the grove. Soon they saw him through the window making his way to Lucy, whom, when she saw him, smiled and stood up, only to be picked up off the ground by Gray and spun around, her hair whipping around her in golden waves, laughing as she did. They saw how Gray was also laughing as he twirled her around and when setting her down, hugged her for a long time, with Lucy hugging him back, her arms around his shoulders.

"I take that as a yes." Loke said. Just by seeing him happy with Lucy, the three boys knew that Gray didn't have to answer them. They just had to look at them and know that they were so in love, it made one feel like clapping. While Gajeel and Loke smiled at the scene they noticed Sting with a stoic expression.

"Sting? Come on dude don't be like that. Be happy for Gray." Gajeel held onto his arm.

"I am happy for Gray. I'm happy for both of them. I mean when I saw Lucy on Friday, I thought 'shit she is so hot' but then when I saw the way Gray looked at her, I knew that it wasn't just for fun anymore. He really, hopelessly and truthfully had fallen in love with her."

"They why are you sulking." Loke asked.

"Because, I don't want either of them to get hurt, especially Lucy. She's still new here. She doesn't know how everything works, especially the types of students in this school who are not really what you call 'role models'.

After saying this, all three boys turned their attention back to the two new love birds and saw that they were now sitting down leaning against the tree, with Lucy in between Gray's legs that were spread out on either side of her. They saw how Gray held her by her waist, leaning his face down to her shoulder, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, that made Lucy smile down to herself.

"Don't worry dude, if we know Gray, he won't let anything happen to Lucy." Gajeel stated.

"I hope you're right bro." and with that all three boys began making their way out of the building.

**XDXDX**

"Alright take fifteen." Capricorn-sensei shouted, signalling the boys to take their break. Gray made his way to Sting, Gajeel, Loke and Rufus and sat with them discussing game strategies.

"Ha! So I see that you actually are making good use of this bet aye Fullbuster?"

Looking up, Gray saw Midnight standing in front of him, with Racer behind him.

"Shut up Mid-dork!" Loke spoke out.

"Oh, so now you make your little minions do the talking for you Fullbuster?" then turning to Loke, "I wasn't talking to _you_ man-whore." Midnight spat.

At this Loke had gotten up and was about to pounce on him if Gajeel and Rufus hadn't held him back. By this time Gray had gotten up and faced Midnight.

"What do you want Midnight? Whatever it is, it's between you and me. Don't talk like that to my friends." Gray glared at him before turning to see to Loke, who had calmed down.

Midnight let out a single laugh and folded his arms.

"What if I said I wanted Lucy."

At hearing this Gray stiffened and stopped. Turning around slowly, he looked straight at Midnight and started walking back to him, stopping when he was at an arms length away.

"What did you just say?" his anger was at boiling point now.

"Oh you heard me Fullbuster. I want little Miss Lucy Heartfilia. Dang, never knew that under all those baggy jeans and grandmother pants were a pair of sexy, supple model legs." Looking at how much he was pissing Gray off, he smirked and continued, "and I mean dang, who knew she could make little jolly down there stand like a solute…"

Gray had then grabbed onto Midnights shirt collar and pushed him to the ground, looking murderous.

"Don't you dare touch her!" his voice was lethal.

Midnight laughed.

"Oh I don't think she'll even want _you_ to touch her after she finds out about our little venture." Midnight smirked.

Gray let go of Midnight and stood up.

"I'm out."

At this Midnight looked shocked, but then quickly regained his evil smirk.

"Haha, see! you are a wuss after all."

Gray just kept looking at him with disgust.

"I may be a wuss, but I won't let you lay a finger on Lucy."

"Ohoho, what's this now, you actually fell for her?"

Gray just kept the same look on his face.

"Well now this is getting interesting! I wonder what Lucy would say if she happened to accidently find out about her boyfriend playing her?" looking at Gray's angry face he continued, "Well, I would expect that she would run into the nearest arms she could find for comfort, like me, and then I would comfort her and if she didn't want my comfort…" at this he gave an evil smile.

"…I'd just have to make her want me to comfort her."

Gray had lost it and had now jumped on Midnight, with the rest team trying to hold him back, saving him from landing a blow on Midnights face. He then leaned down to Midnight, ready to kill him.

"If you so much as touch Lucy, I'll kill you." Gray threatened. Looking at his face, the entire soccer team knew he was serious.

Midnight, seeing his face, smiled and leaned up so as his face was right in front of Grays. At this very moment though, Capricorn-sensei had arrived back, seeing the commotion.

"Oi! What's going on here?"

Everybody dispersed, which only left Gray and Midnight standing, glaring daggers at each other.

"You two!" at this they both looked up. "Get back to practice…NOW!"

Midnight smirked at Capricorn-sensei, then turned back to Gray.

"This isn't over Fullbuster. Not by a long shot." And with that left to train, leaving a still fuming Gray behind. Looking at his retreating figure, Gray clenched his fists, the veins in his hands showing.

"_That bastard."_ But knew that Midnight's words held some truth to them. If Lucy found out, she would be crushed, and Gray couldn't bear the thought of that ever happening.

**XDXDX**

"Thanks for walking me home Gray."

The next day Gray had told Capricorn-sense that he couldn't attend training due to him not feeling well enough, but in truth he had wanted to walk Lucy home, with the plan to tell her everything. He shivered.

"Hey Lucy, can I talk to you for a bit."

Lucy now looked at him, puzzled.

"Yeah sure."

Leading Gray to their porch sofa, Lucy sat herself down with Gray soon joining her. When they were comfortable, Gray turned to find Lucy looking out to the street, smiling as they saw the neighbourhood kids playing hop scotch and skipping rope on the pavement. Gray looked at her and felt a hurtful pang go through his heart. Lucy was so innocent, so fragile. She always saw things beyond their outer appearance, like him. And now he was going to tell her that everything he did was all a lie, a bet that he could date the school loser.

But looking back at her, he admitted that _that_ was the lie. Him falling in love with her was as wholesome a truth as there ever was one. But that was not how everybody in school saw it. Most of the school knew about the bet, yet no one ever told Lucy, mostly because she didn't have any friends besides Gray and his friends.

"Lucy…

Taking her hands in his, Gray pulled Lucy to him. Lucy turned to him and smiled. She then leaned into him, snuggling up to him, with him wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Hmmm?"

Looking down, Gray saw Lucy still smiling out towards the children playing. He couldn't help but feel even more worse.

"_How can I be so stupid!"_ he thought.

Then Gray heard Lucy laugh. Looking in the direction of the source of her laughter, he found that one child playing hop-scotch had jumped from the sixth step all the way to the first step, putting his tiny hands up in triumph.

"He's so kawaii." Lucy said softly.

"Yeah. You really like kids don't you?"

At this Lucy looked up to see Gray looking at her intently. She smiled and nodded her head.

"I do." She said.

"You ever thought of having any?"

Lucy's happy face quickly disappeared, replace by one of sadness.

"I have, so many times, but…

"But…

Noting how she had stiffened, Gray pulled her even tighter into him and placed his face on her head, sighing.

"It's okay Lucy. You don't have to answer" Looking back down at her, he couldn't help but feel bad himself. Here he was, watching Lucy dream about her future and he was going to tell her about how stupid he was.

"Thank you Gray."

Looking down, Gray saw Lucy look up at him.

"Huh?"

"Thank you for everything. All my life, apart from my family, Erza and Levy, I have never had someone be there for me like you are. I have never had someone to hold me and…" she now turned up to him and caressed his cheek,

"…I had never been in love before, but now...I am." She smiled the last part.

Gray couldn't help but feel tears starting to well up in his eyes. She loved him. She just admitted that she loved him. He was so happy at this moment that he wanted to jump up and lift Lucy into the air, screaming to the world just how happy he was.

After a few seconds, Lucy started pulling Gray down towards her, their noses now touching, with Gray inhaling Lucy's intoxicating natural scent. He was staring into her eyes and saw that Lucy was thinking the same thing he was. He then brought his hand up to her cheek and ran his thumb along her bottom lip, wetting his own lips at the same time. He then edged closer, his lips now above hers, looking down at her.

"Lucy…

She looked up to see him staring down at her with glazed eyes. She then started closing her eyes, with him doing the same. Then, there was nothing else. The world seemed to stop as Gray finally closed the gap between them, pushing his lips lightly onto hers.

It was a chaste kiss, an innocent kiss. Gray had to stop himself from groaning for as soon as his lips had touched hers, he tasted just how sweet her lips were and had to stop himself from opening his mouth to claim more. Lucy, on the other hand, felt light headed and had to hold on to Grays arm, from fear that she might faint. Gray then placed his hands at the back of her head, weaving his hands through her ocean of golden locks.

After what felt like forever, Gray pulled away, looking down to see Lucy still having her eyes closed. He then leaned back down and kissed the skin under her jaw. Lucy slowly opened her eyes and leaned up and placed a similar kiss on Gray. At feeling her lips run along the bottom of his jaw, Gray had to stifle a groan, pulling back to look straight into her eyes. Lucy smiled, making Gray smile as well.

"You are so perfect." And then he leaned back down and placed another small kiss near the side of her lips, making Lucy sigh, washing over Gray with her breath, which he gladly inhaled.

"Gray…

Her whisper was husky. Gray had to fight the urge to pull her to him and crush her mouth against his, taking what he knew was his to take from the moment he saw her.

Leaning his forehead onto hers, Gray closed his eyes and gave off a shaky breath.

"I think we should stop here, before I do something really stupid."

At this Lucy saw what he meant and slowly nodded her head.

"Yeah…okay." And with this the two went back to holding each other, with Gray holding Lucy around her waist and placing soft kisses every now and then on her neck and shoulder, every time making Lucy sigh in contentment.

"Gray…

"Hmmm?"

"What was it you wanted to talk about?"

Snapping back to reality, Gray looked at Lucy. He wanted to tell her,

"Um…it's nothing." he smiled. He couldn't tell her. He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't. He knew that it was the wrong move not to tell her, but he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. He decided he would find another way to break the stupid bet. He wasn't going to lose Lucy. He loved her.

"Oh okay then." She returned to staring out to the playing children. Looking down at her glowing face, Gray smiled and pulled her even closer if that was possible. He wasn't going to lose her. He didn't care if Midnight ridiculed him. He would gladly accept it if it meant to keep the girl in his arms with him. That's what he kept telling himself, but deep down, he knew that this was far from over, as the words Midnight had last uttered kept ringing in his ears.

"_This isn't over Fullbuster. Not by a long shot."_

**Okay, now I am so sorry for this but the next chapter…**

**I'm already bawling my eyes out! WAHHH! **

**Lucy don't leave! Gray you bastard chase after her NOW!**

**Thanks again for reading and please please please review! Love you guys!**


	9. Chapter 9: Truth

**Hi! Okay I am again so SORRY for not updating quick enough. This chapter took a lot of crying and squealing to get through. I hope you like it and IF you happen to cry, I am very sorry…but the next chapter is probably worse so please save some tears. Thank you all again for the beautiful reviews. You people are like the light of my writing life. You brighten up my whole day. Thank you all so so much. Love you all minna! 3**

**Chapter 9: Truth**

Bliss. There was no other word Gray Fullbuster could describe spending his days with Lucy Heartfilia. Though now, all he felt was dread. Today was the Tie Breaker game.

A million thoughts raced through his mind. Earlier he saw Midnight walk passed him into the bleachers, a scowl on his face. He wasn't scared of him, no, but he was scared of what would happen if anything were to happen to Lucy at today's game.

Sitting on the benches that were to be occupied by his team, Gray looked up to the already-rapidly filling up stands to see if Lucy was already there. He had asked her to be there.

**Flashback**

Lucy was sitting in between Gray who was leaning against the huge oak tree in front of the pond. It was five in the afternoon the day before (Thursday). Fiore Park was covered in brilliant liquid fiery red colours, with leaves flying all around them. It was such a beautiful scene that on their way home, Lucy and Gray had decided to stop and enjoy it for a bit.

"Lucy…"

"Hmmm?

Gray had been playing with Lucy's left hand, twirling it and twining it around his, fitting his fingers perfectly in between hers. Looking down at Lucy, Gray buried his face in her golden locks, loving the scent of nature that she so naturally seemed to give off.

"Will you come to tomorrow's game?"

Lucy now looked up to see Gray giving her a tender look. She smiled.

"Of course I'll come. You know that, you don't have to ask." Placing her free hand up to cup his cheek, Lucy smiled, still twining her other hand with his. Gray smiled.

"I know, but I still like to ask."

"Why?"

"Because….

Gray pulled her tighter to him, his lips against her ear, breathing heavily.

"…I'm a gentleman and I want to be the first to see you when you enter the stadium," and with that, he kissed the skin under her ear, making Lucy giggle.

"Okay. That's sounds like a fair enough reason," and with that brought Gray's face down to hers, his lips lingering above hers.

"I love you."

She stared deep into his eyes as she said it. Gray couldn't help but close the tiny gap between them, and placed a gentle, soft kiss on her lips before pulling back slightly.

"I love you." And with this, he brought her hand up to his chest and held it to his heart.

Lucy looked up at him and smiled. He couldn't help but smile back. After this they had turned back to the scene before them. Now the sun had set just above the tree tops, casting a milky fiery glow above the sky, reflected perfectly in the mirror-like water of the pond. Gray pulled Lucy closer to him again and placed his hands around her waist, rubbing the side of her neck with his nose.

"I love you." He kept whispering those words to her, making Lucy smile every single time he said it.

**End Flashback**

Gray smiled to himself. He couldn't get that moment out of his head. Lucy had been so warm, so calm to him that he felt like thanking God everyday for her. And now, he was worried. Worried that if something were to happen to her, he wouldn't know what to do.

"Yo!"

Snapping back to reality, Gray looked up to see none other than the striker of the opposing team standing right in front of him, with a goofy smile plastered on his face. For some reason, he didn't feel like hating him and wasn't annoyed by his presence. He was occupied with other thoughts.

"Hey Natsu."

Natsu, seeing Gray seem to be battling an inner trial, took a seat next to him and faced him.

"You okay Gray?"

Gray was taken aback. Here was Natsu Dragneel, famous striker of Grimoire Academy, talking to him in a civil manner, and what's more weird was the fact that he was concerned about him.

"Yeah, why, trying to sike me out?" Gray still tried to retain his cool outer ego. This made the pink haired hotty give off a laugh of disbelief.

"Haha bro, you don't have to act all tough and cool. It's okay to be…you, you know, even if being you is like being a dick sometimes." Gray looked up to see Natsu staring off straight ahead, smiling to himself.

"So how's my Lucy." He smiled as he said this.

"Well _my _Lucy is doing great thank you." Gray knew that Natsu was just making fun of him.

"Oh, so she's your Lucy now?" Natsu smirked, but his eyes held some tension in them.

"Yeah…she is." As he said this, he was looking down at the ground, smiling as he did. Natsu noticed this and let out a long sigh.

"So…you got together huh?" Looking up, Gray saw that Natsu still had a smile on his face, though it looked like the tired kind. He was honestly surprised. He was expecting Natsu to at least laugh it off, saying that it must have been a bad joke or argue that he'd fight for her, or something. But he was not expecting him to have a goofy smile on his face.

"You not…upset or whatever?" Gray couldn't help but ask.

Natsu turned to him and gave him another genuine smile.

"Dude…..

At this he looked up to the stands, trying to look for Lucy just like Gray had.

"…Lucy is…she's…she's special. She's one of those rare people who's both beautiful on the inside and on the outside. I won't lie, I like her. I like her a lot. I love her and I would do anything for her. But last week, when I saw the way you held her after I left you guys, the way Lucy looked at you and you at her, I could tell that there was something there that you two didn't even notice yet."

Looking back to Gray now,

"Look after her Fullbuster." Natsu said it with so much authority that Gray couldn't help but gulp.

"I will."

Natsu then stood and looked towards the stands again, only this time he smiled, his eyes lighting up.

"Well you better go and give her some looking after, or I will do it."

Gray looked up to see where he was looking to. He swore his heart stopped beating. Smiling down at him from the bottom stairs of the stand was Lucy.

She wore a white, knee length flare dress. It had sleeves that reached her elbows, with a deep, oval neckline that ended just above her bust. She wore closed slippers and her hair was left loose, flying in the cool breeze that blew from the east, with only a blue ribbon holding the side of it to stop it from flying in her face.

She was so beautiful. Some people walking up the stand had stopped to greet her, with young boys trying to catch her attention, but as they saw Gray approaching, they quickly dispersed.

Gray had literally run up to her, leaving Natsu behind smiling at Lucy who gave him a small wave, him waving back, blowing a butterfly kiss and winking at her. Lucy at this smiled and blew a friendly kiss back, which Natsu caught and jumped up laughing before giving her another wave and making his way to his team.

Once Gray reached Lucy, he tried climbing up the stand, making it half way-up the stand. At this, Lucy leaned down, with Gray stretching his neck, bringing them face to face, smiling at each other.

"Why don't you come down?" Gray asked still trying to climb up the stand, thinking that running up would take too much time. At this Lucy leaned even further down and touched her nose to his.

"I like it this way. It makes me feel like you're Romeo trying to climb up to Juliet."

"If you're my Juliet, I would climb a hundred stands for you."

Lucy laughed at this, leaned down and kissed Gray on the cheek, before leaning down more, whispering into his ear.

"I love you my Romeo."

Gray smiled up at her. Before he could touch her lips with his, a loud shout was heard.

"FULBBUSTER! GET DOWN FROM THERE NOW!"

Looking back down, Gray saw Capricorn-sensei glaring at him. He gave a curt nod and turned back. As his head turned back to Lucy, he felt something soft and warm against his lips. Widening his eyes, his saw that Lucy had leaned down and pressed her lips lightly onto his. Pulling back quickly, she smiled down at him. She then took off her ribbon that held her hair and tied it to his right hand, making a small bow as she did so.

"For good luck" she whispered and caressed his cheek. Gray smiled and leaped down from the stand. Turning back to Lucy, he mouthed "I love you" and began making his way to his already assembled team.

"About time dude," laughed Loke.

At this Gray smiled, and turned to find Lucy sitting in the stands, looking around the grounds, a smile on her face.

"Oi lover boy!"

Gray turned to find Gajeel smirking at him.

"Keep your head in the game will ya."

"Hey my head _is_ in the game."

"And somewhere else," winked Rufus.

At this all the boys laughed.

"So I see Miss sexy legs is here?"

Gray glared as Midnight walked up to him.

"Get lost Midnight. I don't want to have to kick your butt right before a game, especially when we want to win."

At this Midnight smirked and walked even closer to Gray.

"Haha always the sharp tongue there Fullbuster." At this Midnight did a side look to Lucy, making Gray look to where he was looking, his anger suddenly burning hot.

"That's exactly why you're going lose the very thing you love, just WAIT and see." Midnight hissed the last words to Gray before walking away.

Gray was about to pummel him when Sting came in front of him.

"Dude, don't. Not now," and lightly held onto his shoulder. Gray was looking murderous, but Sting was right. The game right now was first priority, kicking Midnights butt would come after.

"I'll kill him."

"Don't we all want to," Sting stated.

**XDXDX**

It was half time and the score was still nil-all. Both teams were on edge, resulting in tension rising between members of each team towards each other.

"Yo Fullbuster!."

Turning, Gray saw Natsu wave to him. He started making his way towards him, both meeting in the middle of the field.

"Your team's good."

"Yeah so are yours." They both exchanged. After a while, Natsu spoke once again.

"Good luck in the next half," and brought his hand out to shake Grays.

"Yeah, same to you bro," and shook his hand. After wishing each other luck, Gray returned to his team and ran by the game plan again one more time.

After discussing their game plan, with a few modifications here and there, team Mag High made their way once again into the centre of the field. Gray looked up to see Natsu give him a thumbs up and he did the same back. Even though they weren't on the same team, they shared the same ideals, one being good sportsmanship.

The game progressed intensely, with the score still nil-all. Gray and his team were on edge and so were their opponents as the time ticked by, edging closer and closer towards the end of the game.

"Yo! Move!"

Suddenly Gray saw the ball coming towards him, in possession of an opposing team member. He quickly ran for it and in one sift move, stole the ball and began running in the opposite direction.

Twisting and twirling around players, he danced with the ball across the field. Once reaching the goal, he looked both ways to see Sting and Rufus flanking him, giving nods of being ready if he were to pass the ball to them. To the right rear, he saw Natsu running towards him at full speed and decided that if he was to goal, this would be the time to do it.

As he began moving closer towards the goal, he felt something fall onto his cheek, sliding down to his chin. Disregarding this, he sped towards the goal, his face taut with concentration.

Time seemed to slow down as he approached the front of the goal keeper, the only obstacle standing in his way between him and what he knew would be the winning strike. Suddenly, he began speeding towards the goal, silencing everything else around him.

He whipped passed two defenders. As he stopped and stood for a second in front of the goal, he focused all his remaining energy into a well-aimed kick, which sent the ball flying through the air at what looked like super speed, though that was an exaggeration.

Silence engulfed the stadium for a second as everyone gripped their seats, waiting to see if the ball would goal, ending the game. In the next minute, a loud horn was sounded, at the same time as a whistle sounded.

"Goal!"

That one word sent the whole of Magnolia West High and the rest of the stadium into a frenzy.

Gray stood there, motionless until his whole soccer team came crashing down on him. It was at that exact moment that a shower of heavy rain poured down on them. At this they all started jumping up and down. People from the stands were also making their way down the stands to congratulate the team.

"Fullbuster!"

Gray turned to find Natsu standing with his team behind him. He excused himself from his now very hyper team mates and made his way over to Natsu.

"Hey."

There was a slight pause. Gray looked at Natsu and Natsu looked at Gray. Suddenly Natsu stuck out his hand to Gray. Gray, looking confused, looked up at Natsu.

"Umm…?"

"Congratulations Fullbuster." Natsu still held his hand out. Gray finally understood and took his hand and the two began shaking. The opposing team came up and began shaking hands with Gray and the rest of the team. Soon everybody was laughing together and getting along like a house on fire. Gray took note of how much Natsu and his team seemed happy, even though they just lost.

"You guys are really something."

Natsu turned to find Gray smirking at him while holding the side of his head.

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean you guys just lost, and you seem fine with it."

At this Natsu laughed.

"Haha dude it's not like the end of the world. Yeah we _are_ upset as hell, but there's always next term. Unlike you Mags, we Grims always know there's a next time." Natsu seemed to nod in the direction of his team, making Gray look in his direction.

He saw that the Grimoire team were smiling and laughing their heads off with his own team. He also saw some of them hook up with Magnolia High girls, who were more than happy to agree to dates given out by Grimoire Academy boys, especially if they were their schools famous soccer stars.

**XDXDX**

After shaking hands and congratulating one another, Gray went in search of Lucy. The sea of spectators was massive in the grounds. He tried looking for a flash of blonde or a glimmer of white, but with the rain, now heavily pouring down on them, he couldn't see anything properly.

Squishing his way through the crowd, Gray was greeted with people from both schools congratulating him and giving him hugs and handshakes. He smiled and thanked them, but there was still one person who he wanted to see the most, who the victory was made for. Looking down to his wrist, he saw the ribbon Lucy had tied still there, twined around his hand. He smiled.

"So you must be feeling all high and mighty ain't ya Fullbuster?"

Turning, Gray found Midnight covered in mud, his jersey smudged in grime.

"_Seriously?!"_

"Midnight, what is your PROBLEM!?" Gray growled.

"We just won the game. Aren't you happy? I don't care if you don't like me, but can't you just be happy for now."

At this Midnight burst out laughing.

Gray was taken aback and just stood there, gapping at Midnight. He couldn't recall ever doing anything wrong to him, let alone, he never even _talked _to the guy outside of practice.

"You get on my nerves! You act cool, yet you're really cold on the inside. I don't get you."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"Just look at you. Acting all high and mighty. Haha you really are something Fullbuster, but I'm surprised, I mean look at how you went and charged straight ahead for the bet." At this Midnight gave out a short snicker.

"You know what, I take it back, you aren't a wimp, far from it! Haha. You went straight ahead and got miss sexy legs, even if you did do it at first because of your ego, but still, you must be so proud that the bet actually went your way."

Gray looked murderous, and before he could stop himself, he let the words rush out of his mouth.

"You wanna bask in the fact that I took the bet? Fine let's do that. Yeah I took the bet because I didn't want to look like a dick in front of the entire team. Sure, I played around with Lucy just because I couldn't stand seeing you think I couldn't do it. Yes I did think Lucy looked ridiculous in her grandmother clothes and yes I did think she was a weirdo and a loner. Please, the first day of school I thought she would play hooky, only to turn up to class late. You think that I would pass up a bet I thought I would _lose _from? I..."

But before he could finish, a sharp gasp was heard from behind him. Time stop for Gray, for he knew that gasp all too well.

"_NO!..."_

Slowly turning around, his eyes widened as he came face to face with the person he had been looking all over for. Her hair was hanging limp all around her, her dress fast becoming see-through and her skin was soaked to the bone. But Gray didn't see any of that, for the only thing he saw was the broken look on her face.

Lucy stood there, completely motionless, shock evident on her wet face. She looked like a statue. Gray immediately started moving towards her.

"Lucy…

But as he made a move towards her, Gray saw that she began moving back. Fear rose up inside him. Now he could see that it wasn't rain drops that flowed down her face, but they were tears. Tears that were caused by him. His heart broke at the site.

"_No God please NO!"_

His voice was pleading, broken and was laced with fear. He began stretching his hand towards her.

"Lucy, it's not what it….

"Gr – Gray…

He was shocked at how small and broken her voice sounded. She looked up at him and it was then that he clearly saw how the light in her eyes were now dull, lifeless and full of something Gray had promised himself he would always try never to see, heartbreak.

"Lucy, I di…

But before he could finish his statement, Lucy had already turned around was running away from him as fast as her legs could carry her.

"NO LUCY!"

Gray immediately began running after her, totally forgetting about Midnight, who had disappeared into the mass of crowd. He began running in the direction she took, only to be blocked by swarming fans.

"Yo Gray! Congratulations bro!"

"Yeah man, that last kick was awesome!"

"Haha dude you nailed it!"

"Gray will you go out with me?"

"Fullbuster you rock!"

Gray ignored every single comment made towards him as he kept trying to get passed people.

As he made it out of the crowd and stood on the edge of the field, he frantically looked in every direction, trying to find at least a hint of where Lucy may have run to. His heart was beating rapidly; his breathing was coming out in panicked gasps.

"_How can you be so STUPID!"_ Gray was berating himself, but soon stopped as he knew that this was no time for self-pity.

He began scanning the stands, the entrances, the edges of the field, looking for any indication whatsoever of Lucy. He could feel himself wanting to throw up. He had to find her. He didn't even finish telling Midnight that in the end he did finally, truthfully fell in love with her. His heart fell even lower when the already heavy rain began pouring down like someone just dumped a bucket over them from the heavens.

He began panicking of what would happen to Lucy in this kind of weather. It was already late, going on to ten o'clock and still no sign of her.

Soon, he saw Sting make his way up to him, smiling, yet when he saw the look on Gray's face, his face quickly turned into one of concern.

"Gray? Dude what's wrong?"

"Sting, have you seen Lucy?"

"No, why?" Looking at Gray's face, Sting guessed what had happened.

"Dude what happened?"

Gray explained all that happened. By the time he finished Sting looked at him with sad eyes.

"Gray, I don't want to add to the pain, but I told you this would happen. I told you that Lucy would get hurt…"

"I KNOW!"

Sting flinched back at Gray's outburst.

"I know…I know…"

He whispered the last part and looked straight ahead of him.

"We have to find her! Let's split up."

At this Sting nodded and immediately ran off in the opposite direction of Gray, who was now running off to the east entrance. When he reached the outside, he looked both ways down the path. He gave of a frustrated sigh. Then at the corner of his eyes, he caught a glint of something shining off the corner of the sidewalk.

Making his way down the sidewalk, Gray held his chest, his heart beating rapidly, trying to think of the right words to say if he did come face to face with Lucy. His mind was racing. He was soaked to the bone now as well, with his soccer jersey sticking to him like a second skin. His hair was dishevelled; his face pale, though he knew that was not from the rain.

As he reached the corner, he stood still for a while, trying to calm and prepare himself for his soon face to face encounter with Lucy. He was scared out of his mind. He didn't want to lose her. In the end he bucked up and held his head high, ready to take every blow that she would throw at him, every curse, every accusation, for he would take them all and take them like a man. Because in the end, he would ask her to forgive him, and even if she didn't, he would wait for her.

"_Lucy, Lucy, Lucy…"_

He chanted the words like a lifeline.

At last he moved and turned around the corner. His life seemed to flash before his eyes, his heart stopping and his mind going blank, for the scene that met his eyes nearly killed Gray Fullbuster that night.

"LUCY!...

**WAAAHHH! I CRIED LIKE CRAZY! I'M SO SORRY AGAIN FOR THE LATE UPDATE BUT THIS WAS JUST SOOO TRAGIC! **

"**WHY OH WHY MUST THOU BREAK THY HEART, FOR THY HEART BLEEDS FROM THE WORDS THAT SLIP FROM YOUR LIPS."**

**Please Please Please review.**


	10. Chapter 10: Broken

**Hey guys. Okay WARNING!: THIS CHAPTER IS VERY VERY INTENSE! If you don't like reading intense, heart wrenching, angsty stuff, please do not read. I can't tell you guys how hurt I was when I wrote this chapter. I tried to tone it down a notch but at the same time tried to make it as realistic as possible. Thank you all again for your beautiful reviews, they are my inspiration just like you guys are. Love you all minna! 3**

**Chapter 10: Broken**

"LUCY!"

Gray had to stop himself from dropping to his knees, for the sight before him almost killed him.

On the ground on the sidewalk lay Lucy. Her body was splayed out, her dress muddy on every surface, her hair flowing everywhere on the pavement, soaked with icker, grime and mud. Her hands were by her sides, her legs spread wide apart. But what got Gray gripping himself was her face. It was so pale that she looked like a ghost. He saw the veins of her neck fade from their greenish blue colour to almost nothing, disappearing before his eyes. Panick brought him back to earth.

Gray quickly made his way over to Lucy, kneeling beside her and taking her into his arms. He brought her face up to him, peeling her grime-soaked hair away from her face, lightly trying to shake her awake.

"LUCY! Baby!, wake up! Please baby wake up! Lucy…"

Gray felt tears running down his cheeks but he didn't give a shit. The girl in his arms was more important. He looked around for any sign of what may have occurred in order for Lucy to end up this way. There were no skid marks to show any indication of an accident occurring. He then looked all over her body, looking for any signs of blood that might have suggested someone may have attacked her. There were also no bruises or any other harmful marks on her to show that she may have been attacked.

He then noticed that her chest wasn't moving as it should have been, indicating that she was breathing. He then checked her pulse, then laid his head against her chest, and froze. He didn't hear anything. He didn't feel anything.

"_Oh My God!"_

He brought his face up to hers. She wasn't breathing and just after checking for himself a second ago, her heart had stopped beating.

"_Oh God NO Please! God Please!"_

"LUCY!"

Gray had screamed out her name. He then quickly, but gently, laid her back against the cold, hard pavement and started applying CPR on her, First Aid training kicking in without a second thought.

A moment later, a shout was heard from around the corner.

"Gray?! Dude did you fi…Jesus!"

Sting had just rounded the corner when his eyes took in the sight before him. He stopped dead in his tracks, his body going numb just like Gray's had.

"Sting call an ambulance…NOW!" Gray screamed at him, breaking Sting out of his shock. He nodded and fumbled in his pockets for his phone. Finding it, he quickly dialled 911 and requested for an ambulance to rush over to their current location.

After several attempts at CPR, Gray laid his head against her chest once more, only to hear the sound that would haunt him forever if she never woke-silence.

"NO! LUCY WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

Gray screamed as he still tried again and again at CPR, each time unsuccessful as the last. After another round of unsuccessful attempts, Sting came up behind Gray and gripped his shoulders.

"Gray…"

"NO!"

Gray shook off his hand and again tried CPR. Again he pumped at her breast trying to get her to breathe. Again he listened. Again nothing. Gray brought his head up and gave a loud cry.

"AHHHHH!"

Bringing his head back down, he looked at Lucy and how pale she had gotten. Her eyes were lightly closed, making her look as if she were sleeping. Gray didn't stop himself now. He let out another strangled cry, after which he cried out loud, sniffing and whimpering loudly. Sting had turned his back to the scene, letting himself let his tears flow down his cheeks. He couldn't bear to look at Lucy like that. His heart tore at the scene of his best friend looking broken and Lucy looking…, no he wasn't going think like that. He didn't want to think like that. He didn't.

"LUCY! WAKE UP! PLEASE, PLEASE WAKE Up…please." Gray whispered the last word.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up towards him, bringing her upper body to be cradled in his arms. He then brought her face up, his forehead touching hers. He locked his eyes onto her face. Her cheeks were so pale he could see the layers that lay beneath them. His eyes then travelled to her mouth, which was closed and turning a pale blue.

His mind going blank from the sudden sight of how her always pink, perky, full lips were now a pale, deathly blue, he brought his hand behind her head and brought her face up to his, his mouth landing on hers in a fierce kiss.

Gray kissed her as if his life depended on it. But in this case, his life _did _depend on it. He couldn't stand the sight of how pale her lips looked and how icy cold her lips felt. Even her luscious taste had gone, leaving a taste that was one of sour, dry blood on her lips. He cried as he kissed her. He would pull away from her to gasp and sniff before diving right back in to kiss her. He would part his lips to inhale her unique scent, yet that was gone as well. Gray cried harder this time and kissed her with a need that consumed him.

After a while, he pulled back to see that nothing had changed. Lucy still looked pale, unmoving, lifeless,…dead.

"No! Nononononono!"

Gray lifted Lucy up to him, cradling her in his arms. Her arms fell limp against her sides, her head tucked under his chin, her hair spilling down her back, behind his arms touching the pavement.

He was loudly moaning in agony, rocking back and forth with Lucy in his arms. The girl in his arms wasn't waking up and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't stand it. His face was scrunched up in shattered agony, tears pouring down his face like a waterfall. The fact that the rain wasn't lighting up only seemed to cause Gray's heart to crack even more.

"Lucy. Baby, I love you. I love you so much. Please wake up, please Lucy. You can't leave me, I need you. Lucy Heartfilia I love you. Please don't leave me. Please." He begged gently into her ears, her hair.

Gray's voice was filled with agony. He then looked back to the girl in his arms. Even in this state, Lucy was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His heart burst. Gray buried his face into her hair, rocking them back and forth, crying into her hair, clutching her to him, her hand was held to his heart, her head bent under his chin.

He didn't know how long he ended up sitting on the ground with Lucy lying in his arms until Sting came up behind him. Gray felt his hand land on his shoulder. Gray didn't move from his position, still holding on to Lucy, moaning and whimpering in pain, his face buried in her hair.

"Hey Sting we got your text, what's u…Oh My God!"

Loke, Gajeel, Rufus and Elfman had arrived around the corner when they saw the scene in front of them. Gray sitting on the ground, his legs outstretched in front of him, holding an unmoving Lucy in his arms, Gray crying out loud in searing agony, his cry's muffled in Lucy drenched hair.

All boys turned to see Sting give them a solemn look.

"What the hell happened!?" Gajeel shouted above the roaring rain.

Turning to Gray, Gajeel then noticed that Lucy wasn't moving at all.

"God Sting Lucy?..."

Sting looked at Gajeel and just by that look Gajeel understood the silent reason.

"Oh My…did you call an amb…"

At that very moment, a loud siren was heard, quickly becoming louder as the ambulance approached them. With a few minutes, the distinct flashing red and blue lights and booming ring of the sirens brought all boys to look up at the approaching vehicle.

Soon the ambulance came to a stop a few feet away from Gray and Lucy, with two medics jumping out from behind the van, pulling a trolley bed with them. When they had reached Gray and Lucy, one of the medics asked Sting if he knew what had happened, to which he told them that she was like that when they found her.

Soon both attendants were pulling Gray away from Lucy, prying his hands off of her.

"Sir, I need you to let go of her now. Sir? SIR!"

Gray looked up to see the medic pull him away from Lucy. Both Medics began checking her pulse and other parts of her body for any indication as to what had happened.

"I can't get a pulse."

The words hit Gray like a brick to the face.

"We'll have to shock her," one of the medics stated.

"Not out here, she'll get electrocuted. Plus, we need to get her to the ER right now. We'll shock her on the way. Keep checking for any change. Let's go!" and with that they quickly and professionally placed Lucy on the trolley bed, with an oxygen mask placed over her head, pushing her into the back of the van. Gray couldn't help but watch, still in a daze until he saw them close the back doors. He then ran to them.

"What's happening!? Is she going to be alright?"

The attendants gave solemn looks to him.

"We'll try our best son," and with that they were off, fading into the night, the familiar ringing and flashing disappearing after a short while.

Gray couldn't help but stand there, in the middle of the pavement, on the very spot where he had held Lucy just a moment ago. He looked down to the ground then and all the energy he had had now vanished. He fell on his knees then, still looking in the direction the ambulance had taken Lucy.

Sting and the rest of the boys made their way to Gray, holding onto him. Gray didn't turn or move, he just kept staring after the ambulance, long gone now.

"Gray…"

Loke had spoken out, his voice laced with sympathy.

"…she's going to be ok."

Gray just gave a slight shake of his head.

"No she won't. She won't be fine, not after what I did. I did this. I brought this onto Lucy. I broke her heart." At the last word, he looked back to the sky, raindrops bouncing off his face, sliding down his cheeks, mingling with his tears until he didn't know if he was crying anymore or if it was just the rain.

The rain. Rain was supposed to wash away tears, not mingle with them. The rain was supposed to wash away pain, not add to it. The rain was supposed to bring joy and life, not sadness and death.

Gray again looked ahead of him. He didn't want to think of the worst that may come from this. He had to think positive. He had to think about Lucy and how she was going to come back to him. Then it hit him. That was never going to happen. When Lucy was going to wake up, and she was going to, he knew that she would never forgive him for what he did. He broke her heart and now Gray Fullbuster had no idea on what he was going to do from here on out.

**XDXDX**

Monday. The rain from Friday was still pouring down over the whole city. It was totally clichéd, but Gray didn't seem to notice. He had been trying the whole weekend to find out which hospital the ambulance had taken Lucy to. Every hospital he called though told him the same thing over and over again, that they had had a lot of patients come in and out and besides, they couldn't give away patient conditions since that was confidential. Gray swore he was going to go to every hospital himself until he found her. But that would not be the case.

By Sunday afternoon, Gray had entered a mini state of depression. He didn't step out of his room for dinner which made his mother worry and Lyon and Juvia curious as to why Gray was suddenly acting so strange. Gray didn't say anything even when he left early for school, telling a waking up Ur that he just needed some fresh air. Though he knew it wasn't that. He couldn't stand being at home, thinking about negative thoughts. He was going to find Lucy, whatever it took, he would find her.

Luckily the hallway wasn't that full of students as it was still early, and the teachers were having a meeting in the stuff room.

"YOU!"

That one word brought Gray out of his daze. Turning he saw a very angry looking red haired girl walking up to him, with a tall blue haired man following closely behind her, trying to reach for her arm, unable to grab it as she kept speeding her way up. Then Gray saw to her left was Levy, sadness mixed with anger on her face.

When they had reached Gray, Erza almost flung herself at him, if not for the fact that Jellal held her back.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Gray could only stare at her and deduced that this was Erza, and the man with her must have been Jellal. Even though he had never met them, Lucy used to talk so highly of her red haired best friend. She would say that Erza was the perfect mother/sister all rolled into one. Looking at her now, Gray knew that this angry, murderous looking woman was she.

"LET GO OF ME JELLAL! I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME!"

Erza was now thrashing against Jellal, who still held her firmly in his arms.

"Erza, calm down please…"

Ignoring him, Erza still stared at Gray.

"Erza, please, you know Lucy wouldn't want this."

At this, something seemed to shift in Erza. Gray noticed as her once tensed up shoulders slumped a little and her fiery gaze burned a bit dimly now. But still Erza held her stance in front of him. Then to Gray's utter surprise Erza fell limply against Jellal, who held her up, his arms wrapped protectively around her.

"Erza?..."

"How could you do that to her?"

Erza was now looking up at Gray, but this time she had tears in her eyes. Her voice was broken, yet strong. Gray was at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say. He really wanted to tell her that he loved Lucy and that he never meant to hurt her. But he knew that would just be an excuse when heard by Erza.

"I…"

"She loved you."

Again Gray couldn't get more than one word out of his mouth.

"How could you do that to Lucy? What did she ever do to you? To any of you?" Erza shouted to the gathering crowd, who all knew the events that took place on Friday after a rumour spread that someone saw Lucy Heartfillia being taken away in an ambulance, with Gray Fullbuster sitting on the ground, crying his eyes out.

Gray saw how many of the surrounding students began walking away, some with their heads down, some with looks of guilt on their faces. He knew that they weren't actually sad for Lucy, but more for themselves. Looking up at Erza, Gray saw that she knew this.

"All of you make me sick! You people act like you know every little thing about everybody."

"Erza…"

It was Levy this time.

"No Levy. Not this time. I will not stand by and let this one go. Lucy is in the bloody hospital for goodness sake! No…"

Turning back to Gray, she gave him a hard glare.

"You, you are not EVER to see my Lucy again, do you understand?"

Gray, hearing this was shocked. His eyes widened and before he knew what he was doing, he made a move towards Erza.

"I…"

As soon as he had taken one step, like a flash, Jellal was in front of Erza, shielding her against Gray as if he was the plague.

"Not another step."

Gray stood still and saw the look on the older man's face. Jellal didn't seem angry, just tired and disappointed.

"Please, I jus…"

"Are you deaf?"

Erza had now made her way around Jellal, looking at Gray square in the eye.

"No, bu…"

"Then you must be a moron if you can't understand. Well, let me make it clearer for you. You are not to come anywhere near Lucy from this point on. You are banned from ever seeing her again, and so help me, if I catch you anywhere near her, I promise, I will strike you down where you stand." Erza continued, fire in her voice, burning through every word she uttered.

"You are the reason why my baby Lucy is lying in a bed with machines strapped up to her like she's some piece of meat! No, when my Lucy wakes up, and she _WILL _wake up, she will know how the boy who supposedly loved her loved her for the sake of a fucking BET!" Gray flinched as she hissed the last sentence to him.

"You're lucky you know that? If Jellal and Levy weren't here, you would be already dead by now. I don't know what Lucy ever saw in a piece of shit like you, a person who never really loved her, who must think she's just another play thing. You jocks are all the same, you think you own the whole bloody world, but really, all you own is one massive ego."

Erza then ceased speaking, looking Gray right in the eyes before suddenly turning around and slowly making her way out of the hall. Before she reached the end of the already very empty hallway, she turned back to Gray, and in one swift move, landed a solid punch to his face, resulting in Gray falling to the ground, clutching his jaw.

"You know…"

Gray looked up to her.

"…Lucy isn't just some_ girl_. She's special. She's beautiful and brave. If you have any sense in that thick head of yours, you will not see Lucy again. If _she_ wants to see you, I won't stop her, but for now, stay away from our family," and with that Erza and Jellal left, leaving Levy to stare at Gray with a sad look on her face.

Before she turned to follow Jellal and Erza, Gray snapped out of his shock enough to call out to her, getting up in the process.

"Levy!"

Levy looked back to Gray, a confused look on her face.

"Lucy…I…I…can you please…please tell me…is she ok…" Gray couldn't help but not be able to decide on what to say.

Levy looked at him with a pained look on her face.

"She's in critical condition Gray. I'm sorry but that's all I know."

"Can you…please tell me what happened to her? I tried asking the paramedics but they sped away before they could tell me anything, I tried calling every hospital and…"

"Gray."

Gray looked up to see Levy have a tired look on her face.

"Levy please…" he pleaded

Levy gave him a sad once over.

"She had a heart attack Gray," and with that turned and walked out of the building just like Erza and Jellal did a few minutes ago.

Gray stood stock still, his eyes widening from her words.

"_She had a heart attack"_

He dropped onto the floor, wishing that it would swallow him up. He tried with all his might not to cry. Then he noticed that no tears were forming in his eyes and then he understood. He had used up all his tears for three straight days. He wasn't surprised, he had never cried that much in his entire life, and now here he was, with no tears left to give.

He sat in the deserted hallway for what felt like forever until he saw Rufus turn a corner up in front of him.

"Gray?"

Seeing Gray, he quickly ran to his side, squatting down next to him.

"Gray, are you okay? Gray?"

But Gray didn't hear anything. He just sat there looking ahead of him, completely unable to move. The pain was too much. That's what he told himself. But he knew that when Lucy woke up, _her_ pain would be ten times more worse.

**XDXDX**

As if right on cue, a tiny tear seeped out from under Lucy's eye lids. It shimmered down her cheeks and fell away to her clothes. Being absorbed by the fabric, another tiny tear fell away as well, followed by another and another. These were only just a few of many more that would follow later on.

**WOAH! Okay that was intense. Mind you I had to edit a lot of scenes to make it less…intense, but I hope that you guys still liked this chapter. I did cry, A LOT! though I felt more hurt and anger than sadness. I guess that's what happens when the one you love breaks your heart. Anyway Please please review. Love you minna! **


	11. Chapter 11: Lost

**Hey Guys. GOMENASAI FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I actually had a really hard time from this chapter onwards. After re-reading all my chapters, I changed a few stuff to suite the story better. Sorry again. Thank you all for the reviews and favourites and follows. You guys are so awesome, I love you all sooo much! Arigatou Minna!**

**Chapter 11: Lost**

Three days. Three days had passed, and still nothing. Sitting by his window, Gray kept staring out at the pouring rain. The tit-a-tat of rain drops against the window did little to wake him from his daze.

Looking up to the clouds, Gray could see his reflection in the window glass, with the rain and dark clouds hovering in the sky as a back drop.

School hadn't been helpful to get his mind off of what he had heard on Monday.

"_She had a heart attack Gray."_

Looking out once again to the dark grey clouds that seemed to only get bigger, Gray gave out a shaky breath. Since then, everyday after school he would run straight back home and straight into his room. Then he would just stand in the middle of the room for a long time, just staring at the floor. Three days he did this, three days nothing changed.

_Knock, knock!_

Turning, Gray saw his door open to reveal Lyon enter the room.

"Gray…"

Lyon made his way into the room, sitting himself on Gray's bed, leaning forward, arms on his knees, staring at Gray, who had now turned back to look out the window.

"Sooo…I see you've been having a tough time at school."

Gray turned to find Lyon looking at him with a serious expression on his face. Looking at him, he knew that he ought to give him some answer, say anything. He never liked keeping anything from Lyon. Gray had always looked up to his older brother.

Growing up, Lyon had always been by Gray's side, watching over him, attending every soccer game he played in till junior high, even gave him advice on girls, which Gray never _ever _listened to. Lyon was, in Gray's eyes, the best father/ brother figure he would ever have.

It seemed ironic to Gray now, that the one advice he never listened to was the one that he actually really needed to know.

"Gray…"

Looking back up at Lyon, Gray shook his head and glanced at his brother before turning back to look out his window.

"There's nothing to talk about Lyon."

He wasn't saying this because he didn't _want not _tell Lyon, it was just that he _couldn't _tell Lyon. Lyon on the other hand 'tsked' and kept pressing on.

"Bullshit! You've been moping around the house every day after school since Monday. Mum's been worried sick about you and don't even try to tell me that it has nothing to do with us. It does if it means I have to see my little brother coming home every day looking like a broken, wounded puppy!" Lyon spat out.

Gray had never seen Lyon so mad in his life. Turning back to him, he saw that Lyon had a pained expression on his face. If Gray was feeling bad before, he felt worse now.

Slowly, he stood up from the window bench and made his way over to his bed, sitting himself next to Lyon. Lyon turned to see Gray hide his face under his bangs, his hands gripping his jean clad thighs.

Shifting closer to him, he sighed and turned to look out the window.

"…Sting dropped by to check up on you. He told me what happened, after the game on Friday. Gray, what the hell were you THINKING!?"

Gray winced. He knew Sting would have told Lyon. If it were to be anybody to tell Lyon, it would have been Sting.

Gray wasn't mad at all. He saw it coming, but hearing that Lyon knew what he had done, he couldn't help but feel even more ashamed of himself.

"Well? Answer me dammit! What the hell were you thinking betting in something like that?! Did you even think about what would happen if she found out?...did you really see her as just an easy win…"

At that moment, something in Gray snapped.

"SHUT UP!..."

Shocked, Lyon saw Gray suddenly get up from the bed and walk to stand in front of him.

"…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

Lyon just gave Gray a blank look.

"Gray…"

"Do you have any idea how I feel right now! I hate myself. I hate myself so much that I come home every day and run straight into my room because I can't bare to face you and mum. It sickens me to face you guys after what I did. And now you know, you know what I did, which makes me looking at you all the more worse, because it now feels real, that everything that happened on Friday did happen. "

At hearing this, Lyon's eyes widened and kept staring at Gray. Gray didn't move from his spot but was now visibly trembling. Lyon saw this and pulled him back down to the bed, with him holding onto Gray's shoulders, his face down.

"I didn't mean to hurt her. It was just a stupid bet."

"That's not all is there."

After a moment, Gray finally looked up to Lyon, his eyes not at all sad, but showed…nothing. They were emotionless.

"I can't do it anymore. I fucked up so bad. I'm done."

At this Lyon gave a confused look.

"What do you mean you're done?"

"I have been trying to find out which hospital Lucy is being admitted at, and nothing. Three fucking days has passed and still NOTHING! No hospital will tell me if she's there or not. None would even give me a hint. I can't do it anymore Lyon. I can't."

Gray began sobbing now. It wasn't a sad one, but one of frustration. It was true that he had been fighting with himself all this time, and all this time, he couldn't even see anything that was going to make a difference. Gray told himself that he was doing all this, hunting down which hospital had Lucy, just for the sake to apologize and try to get her back.

He knew that when he would see Lucy, he would try to not only apologize to her, but beg her, cry to her, tell her to hate him, but at the same time, ask her to love him again, a stupid wishful thinking on his part.

"What do you mean you can't? Gray, _YOU'RE_ the one who did this, and now you're giving up? I'm confused. I thought you loved her.

"I DO LOVE HER. GOD! I LOVE HER LIKE CRAZY! I CAN'T GET HER OUT OF MY FUCKING MIND!...it's just that…I can't do this anymore. I can't keep looking for her and when I actually do find her, just to ask for her forgiveness. That's not enough Lyon. I want her back. FUCK!" He thumped his foot on the ground, clenching his fists.

"But…after the way I hurt her, I doubt she'll take me back. That's what I mean by saying I can't do this anymore. I don't want to find her only to lose her again. I can't bare to see her looking so hurt. SHE HAD A FUCKING HEART ATTACK BECAUSE OF ME!"

Lyon sighed.

Gray looked away and went back to sitting by the window, looking out again at the pouring rain. They sat in silence for a while before Lyon spoke again.

"You know…"

Gray looked back to see Lyon staring out the window over Gray, a plain expression on his face.

"The first time I met Juvia, I thought she was the weirdest girl I had ever met. She had, actually still has, the tendency to talk in the third person, and she would always call me 'Lyon-sama' wherever I went."

Gray honestly didn't know why Lyon was talking about his wife, especially in the way he was and he actually wasn't in the mood to listen, since he himself used to find his sister-in-law a bit of a weirdo as well.

"Lyon…"

"But you know what?"

Lyon looked up at Gray and to his surprise, Lyon had a small smile on his face.

"Meeting Juvia was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Gray widened his eyes. He wasn't sure why, but he felt really uncomfortable hearing this from his brother. Lyon then looked up at Gray and continued.

"Even though I thought she was weird and a little…scary, I found that she had something that no other girl had."

"What was that?"

Looking at Gray, Lyon gave a smile.

"She...has a unique spark in her."

Gray was now really confused as to what that meant. Judging from the confused look on his face, Lyon smiled more and continued.

"Haha, ok let me explain little brother. My wife is different, yes, but that is what makes her special. It's a rare thing to find someone who tends to make you angry and happy at the same time, to make you creeped out, but at the same time, intrigues you so much that you can't help but want to know what other things they will do next. People like that don't come and go like the seasons. In a way, they're like diamonds. You have to find them in order to have them."

Looking back to Gray, he continued to smile.

"By the looks of it, I see that Lucy is your Juvia."

"Okay, that sounded so wrong." Gray couldn't help but snort.

"Girls like Juvia and Lucy, people don't usually see them as…normal, if you put it that way, especially guys, but that's what makes them so unique. Juvia would walk and talk to herself so often, girls would snicker and talk about her behind her back, guys would tease her about her never finding a guy who would like her, but she never cared. She would continue to smile and never judge."

Listening to Lyon, Gray couldn't help but compare all that he said about Juvia with Lucy. It was exactly the same. Even when the other kids would tease and glare at Lucy, she never paid them any mind. She seemed to just treat it like it was nothing.

"I can see that Lucy must be the same hmm?"

Gray looked up to see Lyon looking at him with the same smile on his face.

"There was a time when we were already dating that I got so caught up in what everybody said about her that I almost lost her by listening to their rubbish."

Gray could tell that it pained Lyon to talk about that particular aspect that happened a long time ago.

"I actually asked Juvia if we could have space, and she gave it to me. So, we stopped seeing each other for about a month. I can tell you, I _tried_ dating other girls and let me tell you, it was hell. Soon I met Juvia again and saw that she was on a date with some other guy. I felt something in me snap and that did it. So I did what any crazy-in love fool would do, and pulled her to me right in front of that dude and showed him that she was mine by kissing her right there and then."

Gray couldn't help but gawk at Lyon, who was now fully smiling like he suddenly won the lottery. Gray, who had become very interested in the story, suddenly sat up and stared at Lyon.

"Lyon, I'm happy for you and Juvia, but…what does this have to do with me being a cowardly scum who can't even face Lucy to even give an apology?"

"Haha little brother, if you had been listening properly, you would know it has, well kinda has, everything to do with you and Lucy. I was exactly like you. I couldn't stand being with or without Juvia, but in my case it was because I was a stupid dick who listened to his dick friends, and so I was a coward. But seeing her with another guy, I realized…that I wanted her, Juvia was mine. And so I took what was mine."

"Well I'm happy for you and Juvia bro," Gray said as he then turned back to look out the window, not letting Lyon finish.

"Gray, I know that you are hurting, you're frustrated, angry, that you hate yourself, but telling yourself to stay away from Lucy is not the right thing to do. Yes what you did was despicable, but me telling you that would mean that I'm being a hypocrite…and by the looks of it, even if you both are still young, Lucy may be your soul mate."

Gray suddenly stood up and gapped at Lyon.

"wha…"

"Tell me, even before the bet, the first time you saw her, what did you feel. What went through your mind when you first spotted her, first talked to her, heard her laugh for the first time, see her smile?"

"Lyon, I already love her, you don't have to check if I do or not."

"Then why are you acting like you don't?"

"What!"

"Not wanting to see Lucy, giving up on where she is, trying to block her out of your mind, staying in here, wallowing in your own self-pity. What are you doing Gray?"

"What do you mean what am I doing! I've been trying to find her for three fucking days!"

"And now you're giving up?"

"NO!"

Hearing himself answer, Gray stood still and stared at Lyon for a long time. It was beginning to sink in, what Lyon had been trying to tell him from the beginning. He realized that he was scared. Not from seeing and losing Lucy, but scared from the fact that he had fallen so in love with her, that feeling left out, not being able to find her frustrated him to the point that he thought he didn't need to find her anymore. Looking back at Lyon, Gray saw that he was staring at him intently.

"No, what?"

Taking a deep breath, Gray answered.

"No, I won't stop looking for her."

"See? It shouldn't have taken you so long to figure that out."

Lyon then smiled. Gray couldn't help but smile back, before hugging his brother.

"Thanks Lyon."

"No problem. That's what big brothers are here for right? Just be happy it was me and not Ultear."

"Why?"

"Unlike me little brother, our sister believes in a more…physical approach to solving problems compared to a verbal one, if you remember."

Thinking about how their sister would intentionally beat up her brothers when they were small for calling her dolls names, Gray shuddered and gave a small nod of his head.

"_Knock, knock…"_

Turning, both were met with a smiling Juvia holding onto her purse.

"Sorry to disturb you guys, but I'm off to the store with your mum Lyon. We're going to buy some ingredients for when your sister arrives from Hargeon."

Smiling, Lyon began getting up and made his way over to his wife.

"Sounds good. Do you want me to drop you off?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to disturb your 'bro talk'."

Lyon smiled while Gray smirked.

"No it's okay, we just finished actually."

"Oh okay, well if it's okay. Hi Gray. Hope you're feeling better now?"

"Yeah I am, thanks Juvia," and with this he gave her a polite wave before seeing her walk off the hallway.

Lyon was just about to walk through the door, when Gray called him back.

"Lyon!..."

Turning, Lyon gave his brother a curious glance.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say…thanks again."

Smiling, Lyon replied.

"Everybody gets lost sometimes Gray, finding ourselves is not an easy task, but it is a necessary one if we are to keep the people we care about close to us, which means not giving up on them no matter the situation," and with that smiled once again before walking out of the room.

Gray looked out his window at the dark sky, rain pouring out of them and smiled.

"No matter what, from here on out, I'll find you Lucy. I'll find you and I'll get you back. I promise."

**XDXDX**

"_Beep, Beep, Beep…"_

The sound of Lucy's heart beat on the nearby monitor seemed to be the only noise heard in the entire room. The rain outside fell like a huge dark curtain over the city below, making it look like an island surrounded in mist.

"Urgh…uh…huh?"

Slowly drifting her eyes open, Lucy took several slow, small blinks before being able to fully open her eyes, which seemed to feel really heavy.

It took several minutes to register where she was, before memories of what had happened came rushing back.

She let out a painful gasp, finding it hard to breath. Looking down her chest, Lucy saw that there were several wires and tubes connected to certain parts of her body, namely her chest and arms. She cringed as she tried to move, feeling pain shoot through her chest as she tried to move up a bit.

She soon stopped her attempts and slowly laid back down, turning to look out her window, bringing her hand up to trace the rain drops that fell and rolled on the window glass. As she traced a rain drop, Lucy could feel something rolled down her own cheek. She knew it was a tear, yet let it roll down freely. She was still so tired. She could barely breathe without feeling a little pain while taking deep, slow breaths.

She continued looking out the window, not hearing the door to her room open to reveal Erza and Levy. Seeing her awake, both girls were about to call out happily to her until they saw her face. As soon as Erza saw Lucy crying, she knew that she was remembering what had happened on Friday. Her blood began to boil.

"_That bastard! Making Lucy cry! I should have killed him when I had the chance!"_

Levy knew by the look on Erza's face what she was thinking.

"_Where's Jellal when you need him!"_

"Erza…Levy?"

Both girls looked up to see Lucy looking at them. After a moment Lucy smiled at both girls and beckoned them to her.

Erza was the first to move and ran to Lucy, almost jumping on her but stopping herself after realizing that she couldn't exactly do _that_.

"Lucy you're awake! How are you baby? Do you feel pain anywhere? Are you comfortable? You hungry? Thirsty? God we've been so worried about you!..."

Lucy smiled up at her best friend. Levy then made her way over to them both and smiled down at Lucy.

"Hi there baby girl. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

Levy smiled while Erza continued to fret around Lucy.

"Oh thank God!"

Lucy looked up at Erza and brought her hand up to pull her towards her bed.

"Erza, please don't worry too much. I'm okay, see?" she gestured towards herself.

Erza gave a small smile, but she knew that though Lucy felt okay on the outside, she was still hurting on the inside. Levy seemed to know this as well for she gave Lucy a sad smile.

"Where's Jellal?" Lucy asked, noticing that he was missing, which was kind of rare, since he and Erza were practically inseparable since they got together.

"He's just gone down to the shelter to pick up some stuff. He should be back soon."

"Oh okay."

After this they slipped into a not so comfortable silence, with neither Levy nor Erza having any clue what to say. Erza was still angry at the fact that Lucy was in a hospital bed, while Levy was remembering how broken Gray looked and wondered if Lucy was, by any chance, thinking of him. Both girls didn't realize that Lucy had looked back at them, smiling.

"Why the serious faces?"

Erza and Levy blushed which only seemed to make Lucy smile even wider.

"Hehe you two always did look kawaii when you blush."

Levy giggled at that while Erza seemed to blush even harder. Lucy looked at Levy, visually asking her what was so funny.

"Hehe that's exactly what Jellal says when he sees her blush."

At this Lucy giggled with Levy, which didn't seem to help Erza at all. She gave a small 'hmpf' and looked to the side, her eyes closed, her head held up high.

"You guys should feel honoured. I don't just let anyone see my blush you know."

Opening one eye, she saw both Lucy and Levy both staring at her before bursting out laughing. At this Erza soon joined in the laughter. While all three girls continued to laugh, Erza was the first to stop, tears in her eyes from her laughter.

"Gosh I needed that laugh so bad."

"Me too." Levy replied.

"Me three." Lucy giggled.

Erza then made her way to the top of Lucy's bed and began stroking her head. Lucy looked up to her and smiled. She then felt Levy hold her hand, sitting down next to her on her bed.

Lucy let out on content sigh before looking back out the window. As soon as she saw the dark grey cloud that hovered in the sky, she instantly went quiet.

"_Grey…Gray."_

Immediately tears began flowing down her cheeks.

Erza and Levy, shocked at the sudden scene of Lucy crying, immediately started comforting her.

"Lucy! Baby what's wrong? Are you in pain?"

Levy was frantic seeing her best friend crying. Erza on the other hand, though worried, new exactly why Lucy was crying.

"No, no I'm fine Levy…"

"You're not fine Lucy."

Lucy looked up to find Erza giving her a sad look. Erza continued to stroke her head and cheeks before continuing.

"You're sad…about Gray, aren't you?"

Hearing this Lucy couldn't help but nod honestly. She had never lied to Erza and Levy.

"Oh Lucy…" Levy squeezed her hand.

"I'm so sorry. It's just that…"

"Don't say sorry baby, there is nothing to be sorry for" Erza said as she began stroking Lucy's cheeks again.

"We will always be here for you. Never forget that. We love you so much, and so we will always be one hundred percent behind you in whatever decision you make. Even if I have to suck up and try to like Gray when you get back together with him then…"

"That's never going to happen."

Erza and Levy looked down to see Lucy looking emotionless as she said it. Levy honestly froze, but Erza was so shocked that she let out a shaky cough.

"Lucy…"

"You heard me Erza, it's not going to happen." Lucy looked so emotionless that Erza thought that seeing her crying only a minute ago may have been a dream.

"We get that you hate him…" Levy inquired.

"I don't hate him. I could never ever hate Gray. I loved him. But…I can't do it anymore. I'm tired of getting hurt. This was the first time I had ever fallen in love and I'm so happy that I got to do that, but…I'm done."

Both girls widened their eyes as they listened to Lucy, who was now looking out the window as she spoke.

"Falling in love with Gray…felt like I was flying. Now I know what it feels like, I think I've had enough."

"What do you mean you've had enough? Lucy…"

"I've been getting hurt all my life Levy. To top it off, my condition isn't getting any better. Besides, I guess I was the only one to have fallen in love in our little 'wager'. Oh Levy please don't cry." Lucy said as she saw Levy silently crying beside her.

"I'm sorry, I just hate seeing you so hurt."

"It's okay beautiful, really. I'm actually not that sad anymore. Getting it off my chest, I guess it's helped. Please be happy, you too Erza." Lucy said as she looked up to see Erza having unshed tears in her eyes.

"Once I get out of here I'll go back to school and…"

"You honestly want to go back _there_ after the way they treated you?" Erza burst out.

Lucy smiled.

"Yeah. I'm not going to run away just because of what one person did, oh well what a lot of people did, but still I want to go back to school. It's fun there Erza, I love my teachers and my classes."

"And what about Gray, what if you see him or sit next to him or…"

"It's okay, I'll treat him like any other person in class. But…that's all I'm ever going to be from now on. Like I said earlier, I can never hate Gray, but I don't think I'll be able to love him ever again as well."

At this Lucy smiled up to both girls, who were now wearing sad and pained expressions of their faces.

"Lucy, baby, are you sure, I mean are you sure you'll be okay? I mean saying this now and then later seeing him again…" Erza trailed off, stroking her cheek.

"Yeah I'm sure. Besides, I think Gray would have found someone else by now and if he has I'm happy for him. I still want to be his friend and that's what friends do right?"

She then looked out the window and closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh.

"If anything…I feel stronger now." And with that she trailed off to sleep, closing her eyes slowly, tiredness taking over her.

Levy and Erza were left looking at Lucy take in long, deep breaths before turning to each other.

"Erza…"

"Leave it alone Levy."

"But you know as well as I do that Gray still loves Lucy."

"We don't know that."

"Oh please, you saw his face when we saw him on Monday. He was completely broken., and now Lucy is trying to tell herself that she's stopped loving him. This is only going to hurt both of them…"

"I don't care if that bastard gets hurt! It's his fault that Lucy is in here in the first place. I don't care if he still loves her or not. Lucy is and always will be my first priority. She's my baby and I won't let him hurt her ever again. Not this time." And with that Erza turned and walked out of the room after placing a soft gentle kiss on Lucy's forehead.

Levy watched her go before turning back to Lucy, seeing her sleeping form sink into the covers. Watching Lucy sleep, Levy couldn't help but stroke her cheek, looking down into her face, taking in her features before seeing the tear stains on her cheeks. She knew Lucy was hurting, but she couldn't help but think that Lucy still loved Gray, even if she said she didn't.

Levy then leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her cheek before whispering into her ear.

"I love you baby girl. Sweet dreams."

She then got up and walked out of the room, leaning against the door. She then began thinking to herself on what was to come in the near future.

"_I hope you know how to fix this Fullbuster."_

After what happened to Lucy, Levy knew she should have hated Gray for what he did to her, but for some reason, she knew that he never meant to hurt Lucy and what's more, she felt sure that he _did _end up falling truthfully in love with her.

Walking down the hall she looked out the big glass windows and sighed. She would just have to wait and see, knowing full well that from here on out, the ride was going to get a whole lot bumpier.

**Finally finished! Again I am so sorry for the late update, but from now on please expect to be updated a little faster, well compared to waiting for a week. Please review! Love you all minna! 3**


	12. Chapter 12: Heart

**GOMENASAI! FOR THE LATE UPDATE! GAHH! SO MUCH FOR SAYING I'LL UPDATE FASTER NOW! GOMENE! Thank you all again for your beautiful reviews. You guys…*sniff*…are so awesome! I love you all! Continuing with the story, just a heads up, if there are any mistakes, please forgive me. My head was spinning like crazy when writing this chapter. Love you all again and thank you all for reading. **

**Chapter 12: Heart**

Two days after Lucy had woken up, the rain had stopped, letting golden rays of sunshine filter down onto Fiore. Some light slipped through the narrow slit in the curtains, creating an afterglow in the room.

It was afternoon and Lucy was reading a book while lying in her bed, which was slightly propped up. "World's Most Treasured Values", her favourite book.

"_Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not angered, it keeps no records of wrongs…"_

Looking up from the book, Lucy reached out to pull the curtains slightly back from the window, making sunlight filter into the room, dancing on every surface.

Looking back down into her book, she traced the title of her favourite poem.

"_Love"_

Shaking her head, she closed her book and set it down on her bedside table. Looking out her window, she could now clearly see Fiore city below, beautiful and vast. She had always admired how the city, her home, was built around trees and mountain sides, giving the city the look of an Elvin home country from a fantasy movie. She couldn't help but smile.

Suddenly the door to her room opened to reveal Erza, Jellal and Levy. They all smiled at Lucy and greeted her.

"Hi baby, how are you feeling?" said Erza, being the first to make her way over to Lucy, sitting beside her on the bed. Lucy smiled.

"I'm fine."

"That's good to hear." And with that Erza placed a soft kiss on Lucy's forehead.

"I see you noticed that it stopped raining." Levy said, making her way to the other side of Lucy's bed, mimicking Erza's action of sitting next to Lucy.

"Yeah, isn't it pretty, the sun?" Lucy said as she gazed out of her window.

Jellal was making his way over to the girls when he noticed the book Lucy had been reading on her bedside table. Picking it up, he read the title and saw a piece of thread coming out from under one the pages. He turned to the page, thinking that the thread may have been Lucy's book mark.

Coming to the page, Jellal looked at the title and couldn't help but let a small frown come onto his face.

"_Love"_

Looking up, he saw all three girls laughing at something that Levy had said. Focusing on Lucy, he saw that her smile was, as always, genuine and happy as ever. Looking back at the poem, he sighed and set it back down on the table, now walking closer to the three girls.

"Jellal! You came!" Lucy beamed when she saw him. He smiled down at her and stroked some stray hair away from her forehead.

"Hey Lucy, heard you're feeling better now. I'm happy."

Lucy smiled up at him.

"Yeah, I feel great. My doctor said that he had some more tests to run and guess what!? He said that if the tests come up fine, I'll be able to go home tomorrow! Isn't that great!" she squealed.

Erza, Jellal and Levy were shocked for a moment, but then quickly their faces showed wide grins.

"Honey, that's great! Aw finally you can leave this place." Erza hugged Lucy.

"Aw Erza don't say that. I have really liked it here. The staff have been really friendly to me and they have taken really good care of me."

"I know that, I meant we can finally get you away from…the…_hospital food_." She said the last two words with a weird expression on her face. Looking curiously at her, Lucy turned to see Levy giving Erza the same look. Seeing this, Jellal let out a small chuckle.

"Okay, I'll explain. While we were down at the café, Erza _accidently_ mistook a patient's food tray for cafeteria food and well…she took it and…well you can guess the rest…"

Hearing this, both Levy and Lucy burst out laughing, Erza turning back to glare at Jellal. Seeing her glare, Jellal couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Erza, catching his smirk, turned away from him and folded her arms on her chest and snapped her head up, annoyed at all three of them.

Lucy, seeing this, stopped laughing and pulled Erza's hand to her, bringing Erza to look at her. Lucy then smiled and raised her palm to stroke Erza's cheek.

"You wanna know why I can't wait to come home?" Lucy smiled.

Erza released her arms and looked at Lucy curiously.

"Okay, I know for a fact that it has nothing to do with my cooking…"

"_Nobody will want to have anything to do with your cooking."_ Levy thought, peering at Jellal, only to find him smiling at Erza, not taking his eyes off her.

Lucy laughed.

"No, it's not. I can't wait to come home because I can't wait to go back to living with you guys again." At this she looked at all three people in front of her and smiled.

Levy smiled down at Lucy and stroked her cheeks. Jellal smiled while Erza looked at Lucy with a glint in her eyes and then gave Lucy another big hug.

"We've missed you too baby. I've missed your smiles and laughter…"

"I've missed you editing my stories." Levy interjected, earning a giggle from Lucy.

"And I have missed your cooking." Jellal blurted out. At this all three girls looked at him. Lucy smiled at him, while Levy began making frantic gestures with her hands to stop talking pointing to Erza, who had slowly turned her head, giving Jellal her famous death glare.

"What does that supposed to mean? Are you saying I can't cook?"

Jellal immediately cringed and began moving back.

"Erza…"

"…I miss your cooking."

Turning back, Erza saw Lucy smiling up to her. Her breath caught as she made her way back to Lucy.

"Really?! You mean it! You miss my cooking?! Ahh I'm so happy!..."

Turning back to Jellal, she gave an audible 'hmph', and turned back to Lucy.

"…At least someone here likes my cooking."

Jellal saw Lucy give him a small 'thumbs up', which he returned, Levy all the while trying, and failing, to stop her laughing.

Just then, the door opened once again, revealing a plump, bold, lip stick wearing, middle-aged man who was wearing a white coat and held a clipboard in his hands. He smiled as he made his way towards Lucy, stopping to look at Jellal.

"Well hi there handsome! Whoa, you got some very sexy muscles there gorgeous. You wouldn't happen to be free tonight would you?"

Jellal sprang away from the weird doctor, jumping to hide behind Erza, who smiled at the doctor.

"Hello doctor Bob, how are you today?"

"Oh fine Erza honey. And how are you today? I see you're looking lovely as always, as do you as well my darling Levy."

Levy smiled and gave a friendly wave.

"Nice to see you again Bob-sama."

Smiling at Levy, he then looked down to see Lucy smiling at him.

"And how is my favourite patient today?" upon reaching her, he turned for a moment to send a wink at Jellal, who held onto Erza even tighter, making her giggle. Turning back to Lucy, he smiled once again, taking in her already retuned colour to her cheeks.

"Is it just me or do you grow even more beautiful each and every day?"

Lucy blushed at the compliment, making the doctor chuckle to himself. He then started doing his normal routine of checking Lucy's heart monitor, her breathing rate, and her vital signs.

After finishing his check-ups, he stood once again in front of Lucy, smiling to her and then to her family.

"I suppose Lucy has told you that she will be able to return home tomorrow?"

At this Erza gave a single nod, looking very mother like.

"Good, Lucy, you darling you, your vitals seem to be stable. I would say that you are very much alright in this point in time, but I don't want to get to ahead of myself."

"It's okay, I understand. I've been taking my medication like instructed."

"Ah, you little angel you! Yes I would advise you to keep up taking your normal medication at this point, since you have been responding well to them and your system is able to accept them."

After this, all of them started conversing in other topics, with Jellal still mostly standing behind Erza.

After a while, the doctor began making his way from the room, promising to see Lucy off before she left, again turning to Jellal before leaving.

"Seriously, are you single? Cause I could totally keep you company if you get lonely."

Jellal now had moved from Erza and was standing next to Lucy's bed, gripping her hand. Erza laughed and decided to answer.

"I'm sorry Bob-sama, but unfortunately Jellal _is not_ single."

Eyeing her and Jellal, doctor Bob wiggled his eyes before realization dawned on him.

"Ahh I understand. Gosh Erza darling, you always get the good ones. You totally need to give me your recipe on how to get…" gesturing to Jellal, "…that!"

"Haha hai hai Bob-sama."

With that, doctor Bob waved goodbye to Lucy and the rest before making his way out of the room.

"This is great! Aren't you excited Lucy?! You can finally come home!"

"Yeah I am! Can't wait!" Lucy stretched her hand in the air. Jellal and Erza smiled and hugged each other while Levy and Lucy started squealing about how as soon as Lucy got home, she had to read Levy's new book, making Lucy squeal from hearing Levy telling her a short summary of her new book.

**XDXDX**

Sitting in the library, Gray was going through some random books, while at the same time, again searching for the hospital in which Lucy was being treated at.

Talking to Lyon had really helped boost his confidence and he found that he had even more motivation than ever before to find Lucy.

Since the rain had just recently stopped, Capricorn-sensei had ordered the team to not step one foot on their playing ground, due to him not wanting them to damage it and that they would resume training the next day. Thus, Gray in library, going through shelf after shelf, reading random books that he found he may be interested in.

Passing by one shelf, Gray turned a corner and came to a book shelf that stood against the wall, signalling the end of the section. Making his way up to it, he stopped and looked up. Scanning through the numerous titles, he deduced that the whole shelf must have held literature books.

Not being a big reader, Gray was about to turn back when something caught his eye. Walking up to the shelf, he saw a medium sized book with a light peach-pink coloured spine resting on the third shelf from the bottom out of the whole five shelved bookshelf. Upon further inspection, he made out the title that seemed to not be printed onto the book, but instead engraved.

Reaching up onto his toes, he just about grabbed it and pulled it out, stepping back to balance himself. After regaining his balance, he looked down to see the title engraved, just like on the books spine, onto the book's hard cover.

"World's Most Treasured Values"

Looking down, he noticed that the book, though very attractive in appearance, looked like it had been in the library for a very long time.

Holding onto the book, Gray, for some unknown reason, didn't want to open the book. It wasn't that he was afraid or anything, it's just that while holding onto the book, he felt a tingling sensation in his hands, describing it as electricity, but knew it wasn't that, since it felt warmer and more comforting.

Finally pushing aside the feeling, he randomly placed his fingers on a random page and opened the book, closing his eyes as he did. He wasn't sure why he had closed his eyes, but decided that he would try to surprise himself by opening the book for the first time.

After his fingers began tracing the outline of the page in which he had randomly opened, Gray slowly opened his eyes and looked down.

The page that seemed to stare back up at him had a strange greenish-blue colour to it, something Gray had never seen in any other book before, well not from the library any way and not counting kids colouring books sold in the stores. The page before him felt smooth and fine.

After looking at the page, Gray brought his attention to the title of the poem, which he only seemed to take notice off after paying most of his attention to the page instead of the actual contents on the page itself. Bringing his eyes up to the title, Gray involuntarily stiffened, his breathing heavy, though he hadn't noticed that it had.

"_Love"_

After reading the title, Gray scanned through, what he thought was a poem, and noticed how each word seemed to be, instead of printed like every other book, hand written.

Looking down at the last line of the poem , he read it out loud.

"_Love always protects, Love always trusts, Love always hopes, Love always perseveres."_

Tracing the last line, Gray felt a small tug at his lips. He then looked back up at the title and traced it in his fingers, feeling the engraved letters.

He knew that he wasn't a person to believe in fate or destiny or any of that kind. He was a practical person; but for some reason, reading the poem again, Gray couldn't help but feel a new found warmth fill him, making the smile on his face seem to grow all the more.

Closing the book, he suddenly brought it up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the cover.

"Thank you." He whispered as he brought it back down, staring at it.

Just then, his mobile began vibrating in his shirt pocket. Taking it out, he saw that it was a text message from Sting, asking Gray if he had wanted to join him and the rest of the guys have a playful practice in Fiore Park.

Looking from his text to the book, Gray sighed and smiled once again, before sending a reply text back to Sting, informing him that he would join up with them at the park.

After sending the text, he placed his phone back in his pocket and looked back down at the book he was still holding onto. For the second time, he placed a soft kiss on the cover and placed the book back in its place on the bookshelf before turning to make his way out of the library, the warmth still present in him.

**XDXDX**

"Gasp!"

Lucy suddenly felt a small shock run through her. She looked down to see her book still open in front of her, though the page she had been reading suddenly changed due to her earlier jolt, flipping it to another page.

After calming down, Lucy adjusted herself on her bed before picking up her book. She had always admired it's pale peach-pink colour, which was the reason she had bought it at first at an old antics store before falling in love with it, loving how every famous person in history seemed to have had a valuable, moral ethic in which they followed that they had said had played a crucial role in the shaping of their lives as well as their careers.

Looking down at the page, Lucy saw that she was again looking down into the page of her favourite poem, a smile playing on her lips.

"_Love"_

Tracing the page, Lucy found looking down at the page, she had only just read half an hour ago, felt a bit like déjà vu, since she always felt a tingling sensation whenever she read the poem.

Giggling at her silliness, Lucy stared at the poem before she heard someone clear their throat.

Looking up from her book, Lucy saw Jellal standing in the doorway, a somewhat flustered expression on his face.

"Jellal!...why are you sweating?" Lucy enquired.

Jellal stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"That doctor of yours won't leave me the hell along! Are you sure he's a real doctor?"

Lucy chuckled and gestured Jellal towards her, with him sitting down on her bed next to her.

"Yes, he is a real doctor. I heard from one of the nurses in charge of me that he's actually an expert in his field."

"Oh? And what field would that be? The field of intentionally scaring any guy with a fit body by insisting he examine them naked?" Jellal shot out, making Lucy burst out laughing.

"He really did that?" she gasped out, tears from her laughter still present in her eyes. Jellal pouted and nodded his reply, a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Where was Erza?"

"She and Levy went back to the house to get it ready before you were discharged. I'm here as your transport." He smiled down at her.

"Hehe okay. Thank you for volunteering to bring me home."

"It's no problem. We all can't wait to have you back sis."

"Hey you called me sis!" Lucy smiled.

"Yeah, I see you as the little sister I never had." Jellal smiled back.

Looking down, he saw Lucy's book opened in front of her, the page displaying the page he had seen that she had bookmarked previously.

"I see you haven't been bored," gesturing down at Lucy's book. Looking down, Lucy smiled and blushed. Closing the book, she suddenly let out a little sneeze, her hand automatically flying to her face.

"Excuse me." He squeaked out. Her little sneeze had sounded so cute that Jellal couldn't help but smile at her.

"I have no idea where that came from. I hope I'm not coming down with a cold." Lucy piped out.

"I'm sure it's not a cold, maybe someone was just talking or thinking about you."

Looking up at Jellal, Lucy thought for a bit.

"Thinking about me?"

Hearing her confused question, Jellal smiled and explained.

"Yeah, usually a person lets out a little sneeze like the one you just had mostly because there is someone very close to them thinking or talking about them. Usually that person is someone very special and has a special place in the person's their talking about heart."

Lucy looked up at Jellal again.

"Oh yeah I remember now, Erza told me that once. I thought that happens if anyone talks about you, they don't have to be someone special."

"If you look at it that way yeah, but usually it's someone close to you."

Lucy sighed and shook her head. Just then Jellal let out a tiny sneeze. Lucy looked at him and smiled.

"I think Erza must be missing you huh?" she smiled.

"That or someone else." Jellal shivered, hoping with every fibre in his body that it wasn't Lucy's creepy, yet apparently genius doctor. Lucy laughed at this and looked down at her closed book. She then brought it up to her lips and placed a small kiss on its cover. Jellal, seeing this, smiled and pulled Lucy into a side hug.

"So when did "_Doctor Bob"_ say you can leave?" Jellal asked, running his hands up and down Lucy's arms.

"When he gets back, which should be soon." She smiled, looking up at Jellal, knowing she'd find him grimacing.

He was. He let out a long sigh and sank into her bed, still hugging her to him.

"Well at least if he tries to attack me, you're here to be my shield." He said.

Lucy gave a playful punch to her arm.

"How mean!" she pouted.

"Hey, at least when I'm with you, he'll probably not even try touch me since he knows that he may hurt you in the process."

Lucy looked down at her book again and continued to pout before yet again hearing the door open and feeling Jellal stiffen. She smiled and knew exactly who had entered her room.

"Lucy darling, I have your…Oh! You're here again! Jellal-_kun_" Doctor Bob slurred.

Jellal cringed and began bringing Lucy closer to him. She smiled up at her doctor before chuckling at Jellal.

She was happy. She then suddenly could feel warmth feel her. Not knowing where the new warmth came from, she dismissed it and looked up to see Jellal shaking his head at her doctor, who was doing googly eyes at him. Once again she laughed, feeling the warmth spread through her.

**XDXDX**

Walking back after their little playful practice, Gray decided to walk through Fiore Park. It was late in the afternoon by now and, like always, the park was cast in a milky fiery glow. Passing by the pond, Gray looked down at the spot where he and Lucy used to sit and cuddle before what had happened. He felt dread glance pass him, but decided to dismiss it, telling himself that he was not giving up, no matter what.

"Fullbuster!"

Suddenly turning, Gray saw coming up to him, Natsu Dragneel wearing maroon coloured loose pants and a faded fiery red vest that showed of his prominent packs when the wind blew.

Staring at him, Gray felt his feet lose all the feeling in them.

"_He knows…"_ he thought as he saw Natsu move towards him, his face void of any emotion, making Gray feel even more uneasy.

"Natsu…"

"Shut up."

Gray moved back, looking at Natsu standing in front of him, though there was still a good distance between them.

"You…What the HELL DID YOU DO!?" he shouted out. Luckily, the park was by now near to being empty.

Gray kept staring at Natsu, already expecting that from him.

"Well? SAY SOMETHING FULLBUSTER! TELL ME THAT IT ISN'T TRUE THAT LUCY IS IN THE BLOODY HOSPITAL!" Natsu was now fuming, veins in his head becoming visible, pulsing as his anger rose.

"TELL ME!" He enquired again.

Gray then answered.

"She is."

Natsu was clenching his fists tighter now.

"Tell me Fullbuster, tell me it isn't true. All the rumours I've been hearing since Monday, tell me that you didn't enter such a stupid bet to date Lucy. Tell me that you didn't do that to her. SAY IT! SAY THAT ALL THE RUMOURS ARE WRONG! TELL ME…"

"They're not wrong." Gray calmly answered.

Natsu seemed to stumble back, looking up at Gray with disbelief in his eyes. There was no movement after that for about a minute before Natsu suddenly moved so swiftly, Gray didn't see it coming at all.

A hard, jaw shattering punch was landed on Gray's face, sending him flying back a bit up the walk path, landing him on the ground, clutching his jaw. He spat out blood, feeling that his jaw was miraculously still in tacked.

"I held back." Natsu said, somewhat guessing what Gray had been thinking.

Gray then looked up to see Natsu make his way over to him, kneeling before him, pulling the collar of his shirt up, bringing them face to face.

Natsu had a murderous look in his eyes.

"You fucking piece of shit!" he spat at Gray.

"How could you!? How could you do that to her! How could you play her like that huh! Tell me Fullbuster, are you that sick and fucking screwed in the mind to play with a girl's heart like that! ANSWER ME YOU SON OF A…"

"No."

Looking down at Gray, Natsu tightened his grip on him.

"No what?"

"No, I don't "get off" playing with girl's feelings. I would never do that…"

"Then explain to me how that is exactly what you did to Lucy!"

Gray looked up at Natsu and, for some unknown reason, felt calm. Sighing deeply, he answered truthfully.

"Yes, I did enter a bet in which I would date Lucy. Yes I did befriend her for the sole purpose of the bet…"

Natsu, hearing this, removed one hand on his shirt and was ready to give Gray another blow, before Gray continued.

"But that was before I got to know her, the _real _her…before I got to fall in love with her…"

"Bullshit!" Natsu snapped out.

"If you _loved_ her, you wouldn't have done THAT! GRAY YOU BASTARD!"

As Natsu said this, Gray looked up and was shocked to see Natsu crying. He released Gray and stood, turning away from Gray and faced the other direction.

Getting up, Gray wiped the blood away from his face.

"You lost her." Natsu finally said after a moment.

Gray, shocked by what he just said, looked at the back of his head, not sure what he meant by that statement.

"What?"

Turning back to Gray, Natsu gave him a long, hard look.

"I said you lost her. She's not yours anymore."

Gray's eyes widened at hearing this. He wasn't expecting to hear this.

"What does that supposed to mean!?" he said, his voice growing hoarse.

Natsu still held his hard gaze at Gray before answering.

"You know exactly what that means. You don't have the right to love her. You don't have the right to _her_ anymore. In other words Fullbuster, she's not _yours_ anymore…"

"And you do!?" Gray boomed out.

Natsu clenched his fist, a scowl apparent on his face.

"Unlike you, I'm not a total scumbag as to make Lucy go through the hell you just put her through again. I'm just saying she would be better off without you in her life right now."

Gray felt solid for a moment, his body feeling like if it had turned to rock, not having any feeling whatsoever.

"And what gives you the right to say what she needs right now! FUCK NATSU! I'M TRYING TO GET HER BACK!..."

Gray screamed out.

"I LOVE HER DAMMIT! DON'T TELL ME I CAN'T BE IN HER LIFE RIGHT NOW! I NEED HER! IF I HAVE TO GO THROUGH YOU TO GET TO LUCY, THEN I'LL PLOUGH THROUGH YOU!"

Natsu stood staring at Gray, his face blank from any emotion.

"Then I guess you'll have to go through me." He said calmly.

Gray's face changed from anger to surprise. He didn't know why but he didn't feel like fighting Natsu for Lucy. Ever since Friday's game, he had viewed the pink haired striker as a game rival, but also as a good friend in the making.

Finally willing himself to move, Gray stretched out his hand towards Natsu, a sad expression on his face.

"Natsu, don't…"

"No. I'm sorry Fullbuster, but after what you did, I'm through with you and your so called "love" for Lucy, which doubt was ever true or was that itself a lie?"

"IT'S NOT A LIE! I LOVE HER!" Gray boomed out.

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU WENT AND DID A STUPID THING LIKE BET ON HER!" Natsu boomed out right back at Gray.

Gray took a step back.

"Look Fullbuster, I honestly want to kill you right now. You don't know how much I'm holding myself back. I want to rip you to shreds for what you did to her, but I won't. I'd rather hold myself back then be put on the same level as YOU." Natsu spat.

Turning away from Gray again, he began walking away before he stopped and spoke again, this time not facing Gray.

"You know, you are one of the luckiest guys in this city. To find someone like Lucy, it's like winning the lottery. You would have been happy for the rest of your life." He still didn't look at Gray, who was staring after him, as he continued.

"After what you did, you would be lucky if Lucy ever comes back to you. If you do plan to get her back, I suggest you go to hell and back to come up with a plan that will not only show her, but also everyone else, that you love her and you'll always love her."

And with that Natsu began walking away. Gray looked after him, seeing his figure gradually disappear down the parks walkway.

Going through the last words that Natsu had said, Gray looked up to the sky, which by now had grown dark and had a creamy red peach colour to it.

"_Peach…"_

Remembering the book that he had read in the library, he inhaled a long, deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so.

"_Love always protects, Love always trusts, Love always hopes, Love always perseveres."_

Opening his eyes, he looked up at the sky again.

"_I'll get you back Lucy. That is a promise. I'll get you back and I'll never let you go again," _he mentally vowed to the sky.

Looking back in the direction Natsu had walked, Gray saw that he was nowhere in sight. He then glanced back up at the sky before once again making his way home, making sure that as he did, he had wiped his face clean of any remaining blood, not wanting to get into any unwanted conversation of it with his family.

**Okay, once again I am VERY SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! WAHWAH! LUCY IS SO LOOOVED HERE! GAHH *MELTS*. **

**The *LOVE* poem is actually a verse from the bible for those of you who don't know. It is my absolute favourite poem/verse/morale/saying/…yeah okay. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I love you guys! Please review! Your thoughts always help me come up with more epic scenes. **


	13. Chapter 13: Return

**Hey guys, I am beyond sorry for not writing for 3 months. No excuses, GOMENASAI! I love all you guys for all your beautiful reviews. You guys always make my day. Heads up, if there are any errors, I am so sorry. Thank you guys again and sorry for the late update. I hope it still holds it's fangirlyness. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13: Return**

"And once again, the cornea is located at the back of the…"

A week had passed and Gray still couldn't get what Natsu had said out of his mind. It was Monday, and the whole weekend was more or less okay, compared to him being a total wreck the previous week.

Biology class with Polyursica-sensei was underway and for some odd reason, she kept giving Gray weird glances.

"Fullbuster?"

Looking up, Gray saw Polyursica-sensei staring down at him.

"Yes sensei?"

"Class ended five minutes ago. You better get a move on if you want to get to your next class on time."

Looking back up at her, Gray gave a small nod and began making his way out of the class.

**XDXDX**

As he walked out of the last class of the day, Gray decided to walk past the corridor which overlooked the grove, Lucy's grove. He stared out at it for a while, this becoming a daily routine every time after he finished his last class.

Soon he made his way down the hall, passing students who were grabbing and shoving contents into lockers, talking about the day, some were already talking about the big game, which was a fortnight away.

Hearing this, Gray took a moment to process what they were all saying. Even though he had been back to practicing with the rest of his team, he would always forget what he was practicing for. This in a way was how much he knew soccer like the back of his hand that he didn't really need to think about what he was doing, just as long as there was a ball twirling around his feet, he was fine.

But now, hearing about it, he couldn't help but dread it. It wasn't that he didn't want to play, it was just that he wished that when the day came for the big game, he always imagined Lucy there, watching him, cheering him on, laughing at how he would steal the ball from the opposing team. And then, he would dream of her at night, of how when he would score the winning goal, she would run down the stands to him and then jump into his arms and kiss him with everything she had, and he would do the same.

Snapping back to reality, he was making his way down the hall, passing the hall that led to the principal's office. What he saw next, he thought it a mere trick of the light.

A flash of blonde came into his peripheral vision. Turning in the direction of the principal's office, Gray saw the tips of blonde hair sway around the corner of the hall, in the direction of the exit. Without thinking, his feet began moving. What started out as a slow walk quickly turned into a full out run, with Gray zipping past students, some staring at him curiously, others ignoring him.

Turning around the corridor, Gray flew out of the building, looking both sides, not seeing any sign of blonde. He then kept walking forward, till he reached the edge of the steps that led up to the school and stopped, frozen to the spot.

There making her way towards a blue Volvo was Lucy. Gray had to blink several times just to ensure that he wasn't dreaming. There she was, Lucy, the girl he had been looking for, for what felt like forever.

Lucy was being held by a blue haired young man around the shoulders. As she was about to make her way into the car, Gray called out.

"LUCY!"

Turning, Lucy looked in the direction in which her voice came from. Looking up at the top of the stairs, she saw Gray standing there, panting, his eyes widening when she turned. Her eyes seemed to widened as soon as she set them on him.

Jellal still had his arms around Lucy when she turned, thus making him look up to see who had called out to her. His face immediately turned into a frown upon seeing Gray. Instinctively, his arms tightened around Lucy, with her clasping his hand that held her arm.

Time seemed to have stood still. Gray willed himself to move, to do something, but no matter what his mind said, his body would not budge.

Then to Grays amazement, Lucy gave a small, weak smile. Seeing her smile, Gray saw that even though she looked so beautiful, he couldn't help but feel sad, as the smile she was giving, he could tell, was a forced one.

"Lucy…"

As Gray instinctively began moving towards Lucy, Jellal, who had been holding onto Lucy by the shoulders, tightened his hold on her and instinctively pushed Lucy behind him, bringing him to face Gray.

"Stop right there Fullbuster." He said.

Gray looked from Jellal to Lucy, who was now looking down at the ground. Looking at Lucy, Gray saw that she had tears swimming in her eyes. He suddenly felt himself grow angry.

"Move Jellal." He said, looking back up at Jellal, determination evident in his eyes.

Jellal stared at Gray, not moving from his position.

"I don't think so Fullbuster."

"I. said. Move." Gray stressed out, his voice laced with irritation.

Both boys were unwilling to move.

"I wanna go home now."

Looking behind Jellal, both boys saw that Lucy had turned to the car and was getting in without looking at either boys.

Gray was about to step forward when Jellal started helping Lucy into the car.

"Lucy..."

"Back off Fullbuster!" Jellal had pulled Lucy now to him, holding her in his arms with her hugging him back.

Gray looked from Jellal to Lucy. Seeing her hugging Jellal and not even casting a glance at him, he felt his heart clench. The girl he had been looking for almost a month, the girl who he couldn't get his mind off, the girl he was in love with would not even look at him. His heart broke at the sight of Lucy practically ignoring him as if he wasn't there.

**XDXDX**

"Gray…" Lucy breathed out.

Jellal turned to glance at Lucy looking out the car window. It pained him to see her look so sad.

"Lucy…"

"I'm okay."

Jellal glanced back to see that she was still looking out the window, though her posture now was a bit more relaxed.

"I know what you're thinking Jellal. Don't worry I'm fine really. I just didn't expect to see him."

"I know." Was all he could reply.

"Please don't tell Erza."

Hearing Lucy's request, Jellal couldn't help but frown. He knew she was still hurting. He didn't have to see her face to know. Ever since she got released from the hospital, Erza would always be extra cautious when it came to Lucy. It was apparent that Lucy was still very weak, which was why all three of them had agreed that at least one of them would always be with her at all times. So today was Jellal's turn.

"Look, Lucy…"

"Please…"

Glancing at her, he saw that she was still looking out the window. He was about to ask her what she meant when she then continued talking, this time in a whisper of which he could just make out.

"Please God, catch me. Catch me as I fall…"

He then realized that Lucy was reciting, from what he was told by Erza, her parents prayer which they used to sing when she as little. He noticed after a while that she had stopped and turned to find her having dozed off. Seeing how fragile she still was, he couldn't help but feel sad that for someone so small, so sweet, someone as innocent as Lucy could be given such a fate.

Almost reaching home, he decided to leave her to rest, feeling a strong sense of over brotherly love towards who he now saw as his little sister, one who he would always protect.

**XDXDX  
**

"Gray?..."

Looking up, Gray saw Sting staring down at him with a worried look on his face.

"You okay buddy?"

Looking up at him, Gray just whispered his answer.

"I found her."

Hearing this, Sting immediately knew what he was talking about.

"Dude, that's great! Which hospital? How is she? Does she…"

"I saw her yesterday…here in school."

Sting's face immediately changed from near excitement to confusion.

"She was here? When?"

"In the afternoon, after everyone had left to go home."

Looking at Gray, Sting knew something must have happened.

"What happened?"

Sting saw that Gray had looked away, back down into the grove, 'Lucy's grove' with a sad expression on his face.

"She wouldn't even look at me...it killed me."

As he said this, Sting noticed that his voice sounded a little cracked but he didn't say anything. He then saw Gray touch the window looking out the grove.

"But, even from that, _I_ couldn't stop looking at _her_. She's still so beautiful…"

He turned towards Sting.

"…and seeing her, standing there, I couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again. I know…I know I will have to work till death catches me to win her back, but seeing her, after so long, God…"

He turned back and leaned his head against the window.

"I would give my life to win her heart. I would tear apart my soul and I'd give away all I know just to bring her back to me."

Sting's eye brows shot up.

Gray saw this and gave a small smile.

"Just a little something I've been working on."

"A poem?"

"Something like that." Gray replied, turning back to stare out the window.

"You know…"

Gray turned back to find Sting staring out the window with him.

"I bet she still loves you."

Gray looked at him for a moment before turning back to the window.

"I hope so, because I've never stopped loving her."

Sting smiled at this.

"I know dude. Everyone knows how much you love Lucy."

Gray smiled.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Yeah, but it's understandable. Anyone in love would do the same thing-they would never want to be apart."

Sting then looked back at Gray and gave him a hard look.

"Get her back Gray, and don't ever let her go again."

Gray looked back at Sting and gave a small smile.

"I plan to, and even after death, I plan on never letting her go."

**XDXDX**

After keeping an eye out for her the whole day, Gray finally felt the urge to give up. A thought occurred to him that she may have been there the day before to get her transcripts to move out of school. His heart clinched at the thought.

"No, stop thinking like that Fullbuster dammit!"

It had been fifteen minutes since school had ended and there were still some stray students hanging about, mostly those who had afterschool extracurricular activities. Gray and his team had been told not to use the field that day since they were doing some monthly inspections on it.

Turning a corner, Gray was suddenly being bumped into by somebody.

"Oof!"

Looking down, he saw that not only had he bumped into somebody, but that somebody was none other than Cana Alberona, the girl that no one in the whole school would mess around with.

Looking up to see who had so stupidly bumped into her, Cana saw Gray staring at her with a blank expression on his face, which made her temper rise.

"What the HELL Fullbuster!? You freaking blind?"

Gray snapped out of his daydream and offered his hand to her, only for it to be swatted away.

"I don't need it."

"Sorry Cana."

After getting back up and dusting herself off, Cana gave Gray a once over before replying.

"Well, you look like shit."

"Gee thanks miss alcoholic."

"HEY! At least I don't go around making bets on innocent little girls!"

Hearing that, Gray tensed up. Her statement felt like a stab to the chest. Looking back at her, he found her still giving him an impassive look.

"What? Thought I would be like the rest of those wusses and feel sorry for you? Like that'll happen. You did this to yourself Fullbuster, I'm surprised Lucy still even wants to come back to school."

Gray suddenly looked up and stared at Cana.

"What did you say?"

"You don't know? Figures, all the jocks in this school are either dumb or gay. If you must know, yes you idiot, Lucy is still going to attend Fiore High."

Gray felt a new warmth engulf him. He smiled to the air, which made Cana visibly give a loud 'tsk', which made Gray look back up at her.

"Thanks Cana, but why did you tell me? I thought you out of everybody would be the one to mostly want me to suffer?"

Cana, hearing this, gave a hard smack to his head, making Gray clutch the back of his head.

"Oww! What was that for!?"

Cana gave another 'tsk'.

"You jocks should be called jokes. Aside from me not liking you, I'm not a total bitch you know. I saw the way Lucy was being treated here, and I saw the way you would look at her whenever you two were together. I'll never understand why that sweetie went and choose an idiot like you."

Gray flinched again at hearing her call him an idiot.

Sighing, she continued.

"I told you because I genuinely want you to fix things with Lucy. I like her she seems sweet and real, unlike some of the bitches that go to this school. Seriously, how many freaking nose jobs can you get? Besides, I can guess that Lucy wouldn't want you suffering like a wounded puppy, though a puppy is most definitely better looking than you."

Again with the insults.

"Oi!"

Looking back up, he saw that Cana had now turned her back to him.

"You know the music room? The one on the second floor, overlooking the birch tree grove?"

"Yeah I know it."

Cana remained silent for a while before continuing.

"Before you go home, take a walk pass there."

"Why?"

"Just do it you dick head!" Cana turned and screamed at him.

"Okay!" Gray whimpered back, scared that if he angered her more, she'd whack his head again.

"Tsk, you're an idiot. Make sure to walk passed there, GOT IT!" It wasn't a question.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good, now I'm off. Hopefully, you never bump into me again, or else if you do, I'll end you."

Gray took a step back, knowing full well she wasn't joking.

"Right, see ya Full-stupid"

"It's…"

"I know you stupid!"

"Okay okay, see you Cana."

Cana then turned back around.

"Good luck Fullbuster." She whispered.

"You say something?" Gray asked, not being able to hear what she said.

"Nah, nothing. Don't forget: Music room. See ya Gray." And with that she turned the corner from which Gray came from and left.

Gray stared at the place she had left before turning back to look up the hallway.

"What the hell?"

Either way he began making his way to the music room, complaining to himself that instead of walking to go randomly and sight see at the piano and other instruments, he would much rather go and visit Lucy at her house. But, still he decided to go, mostly due to him knowing that if he didn't Cana would most definitely bash him up.

**XDXDX**

Reaching the second floor, Gray stared out the window towards the grove. At this height, he could only see the top of the trees, but also had a clear view of how beautiful they looked when sunlight filtered down onto them. He continued walking until he reached the music room's door. He leaned against the window facing it, looking at the door, wondering why the hell he was there.

"Tsk! What the hell am I supposed to be doing!" he whispered, frustrated.

He pushed himself of the window sill. He was about to place his hands on the door knob when he suddenly heard a sound come from inside the room. As he continued to stand outside the door, he then guessed that someone was already in the room, playing the piano from the sound of it. With his hand still on the door knob, he was about to twist it open when the next thing he heard caught him off guard by a long shot that he thought he was hearing things.

"_**It seems so far that I've gone down this road, only to find that it ends…"**_

Gray's hand began trembling as his mind began racing.

_Lucy…_

"…_**cause I'm too weak to stand on my own, when all I need is you.**_

_**So lead me, guide me, hold me, hide me and love with all that you are…"**_

Not being able to take it anymore, Gray turned the knob quietly and peaked into the room. Having never been in the room before, the first thing he noticed was how big and spacious it was. There were various instruments placed at different sections of the room. But all that melted away when his eyes settled on the instrument placed at the centre of the room, and on the person sitting at it, playing it so sweetly.

There, sitting only a few meters away from him, was Lucy. From what he could make out, she was wearing a long faded pink skirt and a white elbow length cotton top. Her hair was splayed out behind her, falling in golden waves, the very golden waves that he has missed running his hands through so much. The air in the room was filled with her womanly floral scent, which he inhaled like oxygen.

Looking at her, knowing that she didn't know he was there, it was then that Gray became lost in her voice. He never knew she had such a beautiful singing voice. He wasn't surprised though. Looking at her, the girl who had stolen his heart, crippled his ego, the girl who didn't even see herself worthy of being called beautiful, was beyond words. Seeing her fingers glide over the keys of the piano, Gray became lost in her voice.

"…_**Just catch me as I fall, all this time I have felt so alone, loosing myself in my despair. With loving arms, you were waiting for me to let go, with every step you were there…"**_

Hearing the lyrics, Gray couldn't help but frown. He didn't know the song, but it must have been a special song for her, for every word she uttered held so much feeling to it.

"…_**cause I'm too weak to stand on my own, when all I need is you…"**_

Gray felt himself move closer and closer to her until he found himself standing right behind her. That last line he heard shot through him and he felt that it was he who was the weak one, not her. If anything, since he'd met her, he found her to be one of the strongest people he had ever known.

"…_**as I fall into you." **_

Unable to hold back any longer, Gray leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. He immediately felt her stiffen and squeak but held on to her more tightly.

"Lucy…" he whispered into her hair.

He felt her relax after hearing his voice, but then what he heard next gripped his heart.

"Gray…"

Her voice sounded so pained. Gray let go of her and turned her around on her chair, wanting to see her face. But as soon as he had spun her around, Lucy leapt out of her chair and was running past him.

Gray, being quick on his feet, caught her arm and yanked her back to him.

"Please let go…"

"NO!"

Shocked at how fierce his voice sounded, Lucy turned back to see Gray staring down at her with sad but determined eyes.

"I'll never let you go again!"

Lucy gasped at him, pulling her hand away from him, Gray letting go.

"Lucy I…"

"Gray…it's over."

**Gahh! Okay, before you guys send out death notices, please know that I love you all! The song Lucy is singing is called fall into you by Trading Yesterday. Such a beautiful song *sniff*. Please review Minna. Love you all and I will TRY to update sooner. **


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